Art of Survival
by niteryde
Summary: At 17 years old, Vegeta decides he's ready to start earning rank in Frieza's army...but he might have underestimated just what it will take to get what he wants.
1. Competition

**A/N: Before we get going, I just wanted to say a few things. **

**1) This story will be dark at times. Maybe lots of times. If you didn't like how I wrote Vegeta in "Point of No Return" or in any flashback sequence I've used in any of my stories, or you didn't like the tone in No Return at all, then I don't recommend reading this story. **

**2) I intend for this story to fit into canon. That means that no Earthlings will be making an appearance (sadface). The focus will be primarily on Vegeta, Nappa, and Raditz. There won't be any huge time jumps or any fast-forwarding to the future. It'll just be contained in this time frame, just focusing on this part of their lives.**

**3) Ages. I couldn't really find anything on this, so I'm going to be lazy and say that they're all ten years apart, which puts Vegeta at 17, Raditz around 27, and Nappa around 37. Just to clarify.**

**Anyways, longest A/N ever. If you're still with me, then I hope you enjoy. :) As usual, I don't own any part of Dragonball Z.**

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><p>The underground dungeon was dark, crowded, and humid. The air in particular smelled of sweat and blood.<p>

It was the perfect atmosphere for a good fight.

Nappa didn't react as the bloodthirsty and rowdy crowd feverishly chanted one man's name. He thought the place had been large, but now it didn't seem large enough as more aliens packed in to watch the fight. Standing all the way in the back against the wall, he could easily see over everyone's heads. He watched the bloodied fight that was captivating the crowd – the fight that was quickly becoming one-sided.

In what looked like a barbed wire cage, one slick, green reptilian alien stood, smugly staring down at the smaller warrior who was sprawled out on the ground. It looked like the fight had been won, but Nappa knew better. He looked up briefly and made eye contact with Raditz across the dungeon. They had a silent exchange, and then Nappa grinned. Both Saiyans then looked over to the side, where two short, red-skinned alien men were standing, watching the fight with wide, blue eyes.

One of them hissed a little, his forked tongue flicking out anxiously, before he urgently told his comrade, "Remi, if you don't stop this fight soon, that boy is going to get killed-"

"No, no, look!" the other alien interrupted, gesturing back to the fight. "He's getting up again!"

Sure enough, the fallen warrior was slowly getting back up to his hands and knees. Bare chested, the tanned skin of his back was shiny with sweat. He was in loose black pants with white boots, and he was wearing a white mask that covered almost his entire head, save for his eyes and mouth. He couldn't quite stop the few strands of black hair from falling into his eyes though, even with the mask. Brushing aside as much blood as he could from his face, the warrior slowly looked back up at his reptilian opponent and offered a mocking smirk.

The reptilian fighter swooped in immediately, eager to deliver the final knock out blow and end the fight. He aimed his hardest kick right at the young warrior's neck, but his ankle was effortlessly caught with one hand. The reptilian blinked a few times in surprise. He tried yanking his foot free, but he couldn't break that powerful grip on his ankle, leaving him to awkwardly hop on one foot while trying to maintain his balance. Before the reptilian fighter could even see it coming, the smaller warrior swiftly stood up and landed a devastating blow right under his chin, sending the fighter flying backwards until he crashed hard into the cage.

The crowd fell into stunned silence when the reptilian man didn't get up from where he landed. Meanwhile, the other warrior who had been taking a beating for the last few minutes, effortlessly remained on his feet. He spit a mouthful of blood on the ground, cracked his neck once, and then glared out into the crowd. After a few seconds, the crowd came back to life and roared their approval.

The two red alien men were practically bombarded by screaming aliens.

"That was LUCK! I got 2500 yins that say this kid can't handle one more fight!"

"Let my son fight him! 6000 yins say he'll get his teeth kicked down his throat!"

"EVERYONE, PLEASE HOLD YOUR WAGERS UNTIL THE NEXT MAN STEPS UP TO FIGHT!" Remi yelled out. Inside the cage, the body of the reptilian fighter was being dragged out. Meanwhile, the victor was squatting down, watching the chaos outside of the cage with veiled disgust.

"I'll fight him!" a powerful voice boomed over the crowd. Everyone looked over at Nappa, who had stepped forward. The large Saiyan slowly unwrapped the tail from around his waist, waving it confidently behind him. "I'm a Saiyan, and Saiyans don't lose fights. I'll fight this kid, and I'll crush him like the bug he is."

Everyone in the crowd exchanged looks and whispers. They had noticed his armor and knew he was one of Frieza's men, but the tail changed the name of the game. The surviving Saiyans who worked for Frieza had started earning themselves a reputation, especially the youngest Saiyan, recognizable by his trademark flamed hairstyle. They were all relieved that this wasn't _that _Saiyan, but if he was going to fight, that only meant one thing. The other warrior was a dead man walking.

"2500 YINS ON THE SAIYAN!"

"3000 YINS! That kid is going to be dead before he knows what hits him!"

"Wait, damn it, WAIT!" Remi shouted, his red face even redder with the growing heat in the dungeon. He wiped the sweat off his scaly skin, and then demanded, "Does ANYONE here have any money on the boy?"

"I do," Raditz smoothly said as he stepped up through the crowd. Dressed in altered armor, his tail was tucked beneath his crotch guards as he effortlessly shoved his way forward. "The kid's my brother, and he can beat anyone, even a Saiyan. If he loses, I pay everyone here twice their wager. If the kid wins though, I get _all_ the money."

The crowd immediately burst into a frenzy of activity, as everyone shoved forward to get in on the wager. Meanwhile, the door to the cage was opened. The young warrior didn't flinch, maintaining his squat. His arms were outstretched to his sides, where he was tightly gripping the sharp wire with both bare hands as he leaned back against it. His crimson blood was trickling down to the ground from that wire, from the skin tearing on his hands and his back. He barely noticed.

Nappa confidently strode up to the cage, chuckling as he did. Just as he was about to enter, Nappa removed his armor, exposing his massive build. In size, he almost dwarfed his opponent, who was much leaner. His action only spurred higher wagers, but he paid that no mind as he stepped into the cage.

_Don't go nuts, Vegeta, _he silently pleaded as the door was locked behind him. _Remember that the regen tanks are down._

_Don't worry, Nappa, _Vegeta sent back, slowly getting up from his squat. He flashed a smirk. _We'll just have a little fun before I win this competition. And I'm not talking about this fight either._

_You won't win if you killed that last guy._

_I didn't kill him, fool. He's unconscious and might not ever walk again, but I pulled back enough to make sure I didn't kill him. I'm not going to lose this._

Nappa subtly nodded, knowing what the prince was referring to. He then wrapped his tail snugly around his waist, glancing over through the crowd towards Raditz. The Saiyan was busy heatedly discussing things with Remi and his business associate. Of the three, Raditz was by large the most skilled negotiator. Vegeta was also highly skilled at it, but he was far too impatient and hot-tempered for the back-and-forth; he much preferred using coercion through the removal of a limb or two to get what he wanted.

Unfortunately, in this little game, no violence to the native aliens was allowed. Though Vegeta often didn't care what Frieza's rules were, in this case, he cared very much. The stakes were high for the young prince, and he was going to give Frieza no reason not to reward him once he emerged victorious.

Finally, Raditz turned around and gave Nappa the go-ahead nod. The crowd was already buzzing, yelling and chanting for the large Saiyan to destroy the lanky, bloodied teenage boy in front of him. Vegeta cradled his jaw with one hand, gently feeling the side of it. It was a bit sore, but aside from that, he was fine. He then readjusted his mask as best as he could. It was scratchy and uncomfortable with the heat, but if they were going to win the money, then he had to keep it on until this so-called "fight" was over.

Vegeta quickly ducked out of the way when Nappa sent a punch straight for his face. Nappa wound up blasting off part of the cage with the impact, sending it flying into the aliens who had been close by. Vegeta furiously cursed under his breath, hoping none of the weaklings were killed.

_Idiot! _he hissed mentally. _We're not allowed to kill anyone! Remember?_

_Oops. Sorry, Vegeta, _Nappa added, looking out into the crowd, which had exploded in fanaticism over the showcase of Nappa's strength. Far from being frightened, they were only further entertained. Vegeta's gaze darkened. If they wanted entertainment, he would oblige.

_You might have to wrap this up soon, Vegeta, _Raditz suddenly sent, making the prince look over his shoulder at him. _Some of these fools don't look like they're going to stick with their wagers._

Vegeta turned back to Nappa, and quickly phased out of sight to avoid another wild right hand. The prince phased in behind his comrade, and delivered a powerful kick right to the back of Nappa's neck. The impact sent Nappa flying forward and crashing right through the cage, forcing everyone watching to practically dive to the ground out of self-preservation. The Saiyan only came to a stop when he slammed into the opposite wall, before crumpling down to the ground. Unlike Vegeta who had been mostly feigning fatigue and injury to milk more money out of the crowd, there was nothing fake about the pain on Nappa's face. He could barely move after that impact.

The prince landed lightly on his feet, ignoring the crowd which was dead silent. He settled his eyes on Raditz.

_Fast enough? _he mentally growled.

_Yeah, but I think you might've just paralyzed Nappa, _Raditz warily said, looking down at his fallen man who was still trying just to regain his motor function.

_I hope I did. It'd give me an excuse to finally kill him, _Vegeta sneered. He then walked out of the custom exit he had created in the wired cage. Every alien in his path quickly got out of his way. His display of power was finally starting to draw suspicion as to his true identity, and no one wanted to say anything out of fear that they were right.

"Well, guess I'll just be taking that money from you now," Raditz nonchalantly said, breaking the awkward silence in the dungeon.

"That's not fair!" a young, one-eyed alien from the back shouted. "That boy was no ordinary fighter! No one can take out a Saiyan! He has to be Ve-!" He was silenced by another alien striking him in the face.

"It is fair. My brother won. Perhaps this weakling he beat is not a true Saiyan after all," Raditz scoffed, looking down at Nappa in disgust.

The aliens whispered, and seemed to relax a little over that explanation. Raditz then turned back to Remi, who immediately extended an enormous bag filled with coins. Raditz snatched the bag up, flung it over his shoulder, and then left the same way Vegeta did.

It took a few minutes before Raditz stepped out into the night air. As soon as he did, he pulled out his scouter and put it on. Then he blasted off in the direction of their abandoned space pods. The planet they were on was rich and well off, something that was clear from the advanced civilizations he saw below him during his flight. It was just one reason why Frieza hadn't wanted anyone to die by the hands of his men. The bigger reason, of course, was that his men were simply not supposed to be on the planet at all.

Vegeta had discarded his mask when Raditz finally dropped in next to him. The prince was sitting on the latch of his space pod, using the crumpled mask to wipe the blood and sweat off his body. He didn't even look up when Raditz sat down across from him.

"Get all of it?"

"Yep. With what we got earlier today, I think this puts us as about 95,000 or so," Raditz said, putting the bag between them.

"Count it and make sure," Vegeta ordered. "If you're short, go back there and get the rest of it. Every last one of those damn coins counts." He scowled and looked off into the distance. "Where the hell is Nappa?"

"Still recovering."

"Should have told him to get us something to eat before he gets back here," Vegeta grumbled, tossing the now-dirty mask aside where it rolled on red dirt. "Haven't eaten in I don't know how long."

"We could actually buy something local with all these yins. Maybe even get a female or two," Raditz offered with a smirk. That smirk vanished when he saw the glare he received, and he quickly added, "I'm just kidding, of course. I know we can't spend it."

"Damn right we can't spend it. Not when we don't know how much everyone else made."

"You think anyone made more?"

"Doubt it. According to base, the illegal underground fighting on this planet is where the money is. But we've been there all day, and we didn't see anyone."

"That's true."

"Enough talk. Shut up and count the money," Vegeta growled, gesturing with his chin towards the bag. He then leaned back, before slowly laying down. Now that the adrenaline of the fights was starting to wear off, he was feeling a little soreness from the blows he had taken. It was nothing he couldn't handle, but resting his body for a few minutes would be helpful.

For a while, the only sound was coins rattling while Raditz neatly counted their stash. Vegeta stared up at the night sky, silently debating whether or not what they had was enough. The only way he was going to get what he truly wanted, was to bring back the most money to Frieza while drawing the least amount of attention. No coercion. No threats. No bloodshed. It was a trivial challenge, but that thought only made Vegeta angrily grind his teeth together. He shouldn't have even been doing this ridiculous assignment in the first place. In his mind, Frieza should have simply given him what he so rightly deserved: a spot on the elite rank qualifying squad.

Every few solar cycles in the Cold calendar, Frieza chose four of his top unranked soldiers and formed the squad. Being on the squad did not mean you were finally granted rank – it was a squad where each soldier competed with every other squad member in challenging assignments, until only one man emerged victorious. That man would then officially be a rank 5 soldier, which was the low end (the highest was rank 1, held only the four elite members of the Ginyu Force). Even though rank 5 was the lowest, having _any_ rank meant your life was just a little less worthless in Frieza's eyes. Hell, there were even a few perks. It was barely an improvement in the lives of those who actually earned it, but that infinitely small bit of privilege in an otherwise hopeless life made every soldier desperately yearn for the opportunity to make the squad. And Vegeta was no exception.

The prince had been passed over the last time Frieza had chosen the rank qualifying squad, something that still made his stomach churn with anger and resentment. He and his men were by far the most productive that Frieza had, but Frieza still dismissed him, claiming he was too young for the opportunity. _Youth breeds ignorance and recklessness, _was the condescending explanation Vegeta had been given. This time around, the prince was older, and it showed. He was a little taller, his voice much deeper, half of his youthful bangs gone. And yet, Frieza had chosen only three soldiers, once again passing the Saiyan by.

Vegeta had almost given up hope altogether, when Frieza unexpectedly announced a competition for any unranked man. Win the competition, earn the last spot on the rank qualifying squad. And so here they were, trying to do just that. Raditz and Nappa weren't strong enough to qualify to make rank, but they were both loyal to their prince and wanted him to make it onto the squad. After all, if Vegeta could move up, things would get a little better for all three of them.

Or so they hoped.

"Well, look who finally rose from the dead," Raditz snorted as Nappa finally landed next to them, one hand holding his armor, his other hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you take that kick from Vegeta and still have your damn heart breathing," Nappa snapped, before turning his attention to the prince who had his eyes closed now. "Did ya have to hit me so hard, Vegeta? It took forever to get up after-!"

"Shut up, Nappa."

Nappa exhaled slowly through his nose, but knew better than to push further. Instead, he turned his attention to Raditz who was making neat stacks of coins in the dirt.

"Can I help with some of that? I'm bored."

"Help? You can't even count," Raditz mockingly responded.

Nappa growled, "Watch your mouth, third class! I know how to count."

"Uh huh."

"Why don't we just count all of this back at base?" Nappa asked, looking back to Vegeta. "We have to be back soon anyways…hey, I know! Maybe we can stop on Planet Giyonam and get some women at Uvi's tavern-OW!" he yelped, falling back over onto the ground while clutching his shoulder. Nappa rolled over and winced, slowly removing his hand to find the skin on his shoulder raw and blistering from a ki blast.

"I _said_ to shut the fuck up," Vegeta sneered, his eyes still closed, one palm extended out towards Nappa. "We aren't leaving because I am enjoying the silence. In order to enjoy silence though, it would help if you two would keep your mouths shut."

Vegeta kept to himself the part where he didn't want to hear anything about women. Whenever he wasn't consumed in hatred towards Frieza or brooding over how to gain more strength faster, his thoughts went directly to females. Any females and all females, of all colors and sizes, of all races. They were all catching his eye these days on his missions, much to his frustration. It didn't help that he had never had one, but that didn't bother him. They were a weakness he would outgrow. He had far more important things to do after all, like earning rank in the most powerful army in the universe.

The three Saiyans had fallen into silence for some time. It was a rare moment of peace, but they all shot up to their feet when they heard a loud explosion not far from them.

"What the hell was that?" Nappa asked aloud while Raditz ran his scouter. Vegeta meanwhile quickly scooped up his armor, tugging it down over his head, before quickly pulling on his white gloves.

"What are you getting, Raditz?" he demanded, grabbing his green scouter. He slipped it on and activated it.

"It's Tanus and his men! What the hell is he doing? Frieza said not to kill anyone!"

"He's wiping out the city!" Nappa yelled in disbelief. "That little moron! He's going to get us all in the red with Frieza!"

"Zarbon, come in," Vegeta hissed into his scouter, turning away from his comrades. He waited a few seconds, hitting his scouter impatiently when he heard nothing but static. "Damn it, answer me!"

"What should we do?" Raditz asked, looking anxiously back at Vegeta as the prince turned back to them. "Frieza said if any of us-"

"I know," Vegeta spit out. The tyrant's threats had been specific – everyone was slated to die if _anyone _disobeyed his orders. The methods of death were promised to be horrifying and painful down to the last gasp. Vegeta didn't want to imagine it as his mind raced for an explanation. Finally, he concluded, "Tanus must have known he couldn't win the competition. This would be his third time getting passed over. He must want to die, and it seems the fool wants us all to die with him. It's the only explanation."

The Saiyans exchanged glances while explosions grew in the distance. Finally, Nappa and Raditz both looked to Vegeta, silently waiting for his decision. Killing another man in Frieza's army was forbidden if you were unranked, punishable with immediate death.

"Frieza won't kill me. Don't worry," Vegeta arrogantly boasted. He then looked back towards the explosion and his eyes darkened with anger. "Tanus though will pay for putting my life at risk. He is going to die by my hand, _right now_," he swore.

"But, Vegeta-" Nappa worriedly started, not liking his prince's impulsive plan. He staggered back a little when Vegeta blasted off, nothing but a streak of blue light in the sky. A small look between him and Raditz, and the younger Saiyan tossed their stash into Vegeta's space pod, before closing the pod latch door.

Then they both took to the air, flying after Vegeta.


	2. Open spot

The small room Vegeta shared with Nappa and Raditz at Frieza's home base was bare, with only raw essentials: three rock-hard cots for the Saiyans to sleep on, a small light, and a few spare sets of old gloves and boots tossed carelessly in the corner. There were splotches of old, faded blood stains on the floor, a morbid décor that was only enhanced by the tense and deadly silence that filled the room.

The teenaged Saiyan prince was cross-legged on the floor, one shiny golden coin in his hand. He slipped the coin in between and around his fingers absent-mindedly, his dark eyes were locked on the door that led to their chambers while he waited for the inevitable. Nappa was reclining on his cot, looking far more relaxed than he felt. He usually hated waiting around, but in this case, the time was moving far too fast for his liking. Raditz was the only Saiyan standing as he leaned back against the far wall, his eyes on the floor. His only thought was the exact same thought he had every time they were summoned to Frieza's quarters – if death was in the cards for him, he just wanted it to be over fast.

The prince finally removed his eyes from the door, looking down at the bag of money on his lap that they had collected in their assignment. It was just chance that Frieza had been in another sector on family business when he and his Saiyan comrades had returned to base, or this would have happened sooner. Vegeta wished that had been the case. Though he still strongly doubted that he would be killed, he could never be quite sure when it came to Frieza. He just wanted to know, one way or the other.

Nappa and Vegeta suddenly stood up when the door slid opened to their quarters. Dodoria shuffled in, scanned the three over in disinterest, and then looked towards the youngest Saiyan. He motioned with his head for the prince to follow after him. Vegeta grabbed his bag of coins and followed suit, with Nappa and Raditz right on his heels. They took all of two steps before Dodoria turned back around.

"Not you two," Dodoria dismissively said, waving Nappa and Raditz off. "You two monkeys can stay here. Lord Frieza just wants the runt of the pack." Dodoria laughed at the flash of anger on Vegeta's face. Uncaring, he grabbed the prince by the back of the neck and roughly shoved him forward into the corridor, stepping out after him. The metallic door automatically slid shut behind them.

"Damn him," Nappa growled, restlessly pacing a little in the room. "That ugly pink freak thinks he's something special-"

"Screw Dodoria," Raditz snapped. He sat down heavily on his cot, which had no give. He didn't notice, his gaze going back towards the door. "Why does Frieza only want Vegeta?"

"I don't know," Nappa admitted.

After a few seconds of heavy silence, Raditz voiced the question all three Saiyans were wondering. "Do you think he's going to kill him this time?"

Nappa sat down on his own cot and frowned. "Probably not," he answered after a moment of thought. "Frieza favors him. It's saved him before."

"Yes, but favoritism eventually runs out."

Nappa said nothing to that, but he silently agreed.

Meanwhile, Vegeta was walking down a long white corridor with Dodoria right behind him. On the outside, there was nothing but pure confidence in every step Vegeta took. It did well to hide his growing anxiety and paranoia, as he wondered whether or not Frieza had only been bluffing with his threat. His walk finally slowed down when the metallic silver door to Frieza's quarters finally came into view. Sitting crosslegged outside of the door, waiting, were three other soldiers. The prince immediately recognized them as being fellow unranked men. They had all been on the last planet with him in the competition to make the rank qualifying squad. Each of them had a bag of coins, just like he did. Unlike the young Saiyan though, they weren't very good at hiding their fear - with the exception for one other teenaged boy who was just one solar cycle older than Vegeta.

His name was Jhainer, the most skilled fighter that the planet Trika had to offer. In addition to offering up the boy to Frieza, the planet had also sworn loyalty and allegiance to Frieza – it was enough to spare the planet from being purged, or destroyed altogether. Even if Trika had been purged though, Vegeta doubted Jhainer would have been killed. He was too rare a talent to pass by, being blessed with the ability to shape-shift and take on the appearance of any other living being, as well as change the pitch and timber of his voice to sound like anyone he wanted. Both were rare, dying skills of his race. Like Vegeta, he was also an exceptional fighter for his age, and his unique skill set made him another personal favorite in Frieza's eyes.

Dodoria shoved Vegeta towards the soldiers who were all sitting down. The prince shot him a ferocious glare, before slowly taking a seat next to Jhainer, grumbling under his breath. He sat crosslegged, leaning back against the wall. Dodoria then strolled into Frieza's quarters, as though purposely flaunting that as an elite rank 2 soldier, he was privileged enough to do so. Vegeta tried getting a glimpse inside, but the door closed behind Dodoria before he could. He frowned, and turned his attention to Jhainer. The boy only had one eye, having lost the other in a purge. With no pupil, his blank white stare could terrify anyone - except Vegeta.

"How long have you been sitting here?" Vegeta asked, ignoring the other two soldiers who were there.

Jhainer's long and thorny blue tail slowly slid out from under his armor. It lifted up and whipped a little in the air, showing the boy's frustration without him saying a word. Vegeta grunted, already knowing that meant he'd been there a while. At the sound, Jhainer turned his head and looked at the prince sitting next to him, staring intensely at him. Vegeta easily matched the stare. Of the two, Jhainer dropped his eye first, looking down at the bag of coins in the prince's lap.

"How much did you get?" Jhainer finally asked. Unlike the Saiyan prince, whose voice already had the deep, rough edge it would have for the rest of his life, Jhainer's voice was soft and gentle.

Vegeta only offered a smirk in response. "I'm certain it's more than you have, Trikan," he arrogantly responded.

A matching smirk spread over Jhainer's face as he showed off his razor sharp silver teeth. "I was doing well for myself, until you and Tanus wrecked everything. You have poor timing, Saiyan."

"I couldn't help myself. I enjoy wrecking things. It's very entertaining."

"Well," Jhainer said, turning his sights towards the door. "You remember Lord Frieza's warning."

"I doubt he follows through," Vegeta confidently said. "At least not with me and you. He favors us."

"Yes. It pays to be favored, doesn't it, Vegeta?" Jhainer quietly spoke, not looking back at him.

Vegeta scowled and didn't respond. He wasn't quite sure he believed that, and from the tone of Jhainer's voice, he doubted he believed it either. His eyes drifted over to the other two soldiers sitting with them, both nearly twice his age. He had seen them around, but they were both weak compared to him and Jhainer. They were both purple skinned, furry looking beasts with yellow eyes, which Vegeta thought was highly appropriate since they both looked frightened near to death. They were cowards, and they didn't stand a chance.

Still, every now and then, one of them would shoot him a look of pure hatred. Surely, they blamed him for this mess, even though Vegeta hadn't been the one to instigate the trouble – just the one to finish it. He leaned his head back, not looking at them anymore. Their hatred didn't faze him. He was used to it.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Frieza was reading over a holographic report while seated in his levitating chair. Zarbon and Dodoria were both standing on either side of him, and there was one lone, terrified green alien standing in front of all three.

"According to the research we compiled by orders of King Cold, your men are suffering from very low morale," the small, round alien in front of them said. His voice was steady, but the claws on his hands were clicking together from his shaking hands. "Every man who works for you is 30 percent likely to die from injuries sustained in battle, 65 percent likely to take his own life, and only 5 percent likely to die from natural causes. The lower the rank of each man, the higher the odds for suicide. In addition, over half of your men are severely malnourished. But nothing was as bad as the psychological tests."

"Goodness," Frieza quietly said, moving through the virtual pages with flicks of his wrist in the air. "You compiled this report, Shimdro?"

"Yes, Lord Frieza," the alien immediately replied.

"This digital handwriting of yours is exquisite. Just fantastic!" the tyrant delightfully said. He turned towards his right hand man. "Zarbon, look at this. You don't see such care with these reports anymore."

"Very impressive," Zarbon agreed with a smirk.

"Yes, it's quite a lost art."

"Er…thank you," Shimdro said, blinking rapidly in surprise. He then continued, "Lord Frieza, your father recommends you implement changes to bring the suicide rates of your men down. Having these rates so high is counterproductive to building a strong empire-"

"Dodoria," Frieza cut in, looking to his left. Dodoria immediately stepped forward.

"Yes, Lord Frieza?"

"I am almost done with Shimdro. Bring in the group that went to Planet Xin. Have them come in and stay in the back. That ordeal is the next order of business."

"Right away, Lord Frieza," Dodoria said with a short bow, before heading around Shimdro towards the door.

"My dearest Shimdro, we always go through this every two solar cycles," Frieza sighed, barely able to keep the boredom out of his voice. In the back, the two purple furry aliens were walking in, followed by Jhainer, with Vegeta coming in last. The four soldiers quietly lined up at the back wall, and they all automatically lowered to one knee. Frieza didn't acknowledge them as he continued, "Let's just get on with this, shall we? Tell me what your recommendations are, we will update the records for my father's reading enjoyment, and then we can all get back to business."

"An extra day of rest between missions would be beneficial. Installing more regeneration tanks on base would also help. Feeding the men more-"

"Now now, let's not get too excited. Look at the men in the back. Not one of them is starving."

Shimdro turned and looked over at them studiously, slowly nodding. "Yes, yes, I remember each of them. The two Tepmans have severe anxiety, and suffer from extreme paranoia. The Trikan boy is malnourished and has chronic physical injuries that have not improved from the last time we examined him. The Saiyan boy is also malnourished, and his psychological tests show an increasing tendency towards irrational violence-"

"All of that builds character, Shimdro!" Frieza laughed. "They will all be _stronger _for it, and that is all that matters. Now then, I believe we're done here. Dodoria will show you the way out."

Shimdro sighed. Same result, just a different date on the calendar. All he cared about was leaving unscathed. He bowed as far down as his round frame would allow, and then followed Dodoria back out.

While he did that, Frieza deactivated the holographic report. With one finger, he beckoned the group against the wall to come forward. They all stood up and walked closer, and then they all kneeled back down again. Frieza's eyes were cold as he slowly surveyed the group. The two furry Tepmans were almost shaking in fear, clearly expecting to be executed. Jhainer was still, but he kept his head down, staring at the floor.

Only Vegeta was looking up. The Saiyan glared at Frieza when the tyrant finally settled his eyes on him. Frieza exhaled deeply, and then leaned back in his seat.

"Five of you accepted the challenge I proposed on Planet Xin. Only four of you are here, and I am getting reports of a battle that occurred on this planet. I can't help but be confused, since I _know_ I gave clear instructions that not one of you was to draw any attention to yourselves. So, please, help me understand. Someone tell me exactly what happened." When no one volunteered, he looked back to the youngest member of the group. "Vegeta. Why don't you begin?"

"Yes, Lord Frieza," Vegeta automatically responded out of instinct. He lowered his head and spoke, "We were all doing the challenge that you set forth. Before time was up, however, the fifth man in the challenge, Tanus, suddenly started attacking the city. My men and I felt his power rise on our scouters. I remember you said you wanted the natives untouched. I decided to put a stop to the slaughter before Tanus could cause any more damage. As I suspected, he was having trouble coming up with a decent amount of the native money without using violence, and that was the reason that he snapped. I killed him, and now here we are."

"And now here you are, indeed…" Frieza slowly echoed, scanning the group over once more.

Silence stretched on while Frieza deliberated on what to do. Vegeta reluctantly looked back up, his jaw clenched tightly. Not for the first time, his life depended entirely on the mood of the most sadistic tyrant the universe had ever known. He wasn't even strong enough to put up a decent fight and die with some honor and pride, should it come to that. Every second that passed felt like years to the young prince. He wasn't even aware that he was starting to break into a sweat.

Finally, Frieza reached over and collected the glass of wine next to his seat. "Well," he drawled. "Don't keep me in suspense, gentlemen. How many yins did you each collect? Might as well find out who won this little competition."

"350," the first Tepman proudly shouted.

"10,000," the second one quickly threw out.

Jhainer finally looked up, a slow smile spreading over his face. His quiet voice was strong as he gave his answer. "Just over 103,000, Lord Frieza."

Frieza nodded, then looked directly at Vegeta, waiting for the Saiyan to tell how much he had collected. But the prince's face had reddened from shame at hearing Jhainer's answer, giving the truth away.

"You didn't make more than Jhainer, did you, Vegeta?" Frieza knowingly said.

"I…Lord Frieza, if I would have had more time…" Vegeta started, visibly struggling with finding the right words to say. Accepting defeat in anything was not easy for him, and it showed. But more than that, the prince was finally starting to realize that he likely wasn't going to walk out of that room.

"I'm afraid you are out of time, boy." Frieza raised his glass for a slow drink, contemplated the taste for a few seconds, and then spoke again. "Jhainer."

The teenaged alien perked up, this time making direct eye contact with the tyrant. "Yes, Lord Frieza?"

"You won the competition, and true to my word, you have earned the right to join the rank qualifying squad. Zarbon, take the boy out of here and give him further instruction. Best of luck, young Trikan. I strongly hope you don't die. I would be very displeased with such news."

"Thank you, Lord Frieza," Jhainer quietly said. He gave Vegeta a brief look, but the prince was ignoring him, glaring straight ahead. Jhainer genuinely harbored no ill will towards Vegeta, but he stood, turned around, and walked out with Zarbon without a look back at the Saiyan. In his mind, Vegeta was already a corpse.

When the door closed behind them, Frieza lowered his glass of wine and stood up, slowly levitating down to the floor. Clasping his hands casually behind his back, the tyrant approached the remaining three soldiers who were still kneeling before him.

"The bottom of the food chain," Frieza mused out loud, his tail slowly waving behind him while he circled them. "What to do with you three, I wonder? Two grown men, who both failed the task I assigned. One boy, who thinks he's already a man, when he isn't anywhere close…Tepmans, leave us, but stay close. I will summon you back in here in just a little while. For now, I just want to speak to my favorite little monkey prince."

Vegeta remained silent and unmoving, staring straight ahead while he heard the other two men slowly get up and leave the room, the door sliding behind them. On one hand, he was grateful that whatever happened would not happen in front of others. The added humiliation was too much to bear. But on the other hand, being alone with the tyrant sent an unconscious shiver down his spine.

"Killing one of my men is against the rules when you are unranked, Vegeta," Frieza finally said from behind him. "Or did you forget this?"

"I did not forget, Lord Frieza," Vegeta answered. He was trying to keep his voice steady, a difficult feat when he felt Frieza's tail start to slowly wrap around his neck from behind. "I apologize for my actions but I saw no other choice at the time."

"Your stupidity might not let you see this, my pet, but this task was not without purpose. Often I will require men to infiltrate a planet undetected, move about without drawing any attention. It seems you failed in this. Do you agree?" Frieza casually asked, tightening his tail around Vegeta's throat.

"No, Lord Frieza. I did _not_ fail in that. I was doing fine until Tanus snapped and started trying to wipe out that city. He would have killed more if I hadn't stopped him," Vegeta painfully choked out, his face turning red.

"For once in your life, young prince, you are right. Though I heard about the explosions and the battle, it was not as bad as I feared. You are lucky, boy, because if I had heard a word to the contrary, I would be breaking your fragile neck right now," Frieza threatened. "But then again, according to what you had to say on your scouter, you clearly don't think I would ever kill you. Am I correct?"

Vegeta was now desperately trying to free himself of the tyrant's powerful tail which was outright strangling him, but it was hopeless. He tried gasping in even a little bit of air, but he couldn't, and his lungs started burning. Frieza then roughly yanked him backwards, forcing Vegeta's scouter to fly off his face as the Saiyan crashed back onto the floor on his stomach. His tail's grip on Vegeta's throat never loosened.

"Arrogant, rebellious, self-entitled, stupid boy," Frieza sneered, his tone acidic as he tightened his grip further, making Vegeta's face turn a sick shade of purple._ "_You think you're _that_ special that you're above being killed, Vegeta? Is that it? Because you aren't, and to be honest, I _should_ kill you right now. You have lost your edge, your killer instinct. I can't tell you how much of a disappointment that is to me."

Vegeta was right on the brink of unconsciousness when Frieza finally released him. The prince shakily rolled onto his back, gasping desperately for air. It took him a moment to regain his bearings again. When he did, he raised his head, one hand on his throat, half-expecting Frieza to be aiming a beam straight for his heart. The tyrant had his arms crossed over his armor, his tail waving lazily behind him. His eyes were hard as he glared down at Vegeta.

"Get up, boy," Frieza ordered. Vegeta was shaking a little, but he slowly forced himself back up on his feet. His neck was already showing signs of bruising as he finally fixed Frieza with a look of sheer hatred.

"Lord Frieza," Vegeta hoarsely started, hating that even now, he had to show the tyrant respect. "I do not understand why you think I have lost my edge-"

"Yes, I know that you're not smart enough to see the signs, so I will enlighten you. Just a few solar cycles ago, you had finally started tapping into your dark nature when you were going through your adolescent growth spurt. I had never seen someone your age being so ruthless. You were unstoppable, Vegeta, a true force of nature. I thought you were finally reaching your full potential.

"But, unfortunately, this didn't last. Recently, you have started…becoming complacent. You are letting your reputation terrorize planets and civilizations, using that terror to get what you want with minimal bloodshed. You have gotten soft, and that reflects poorly on me."

Vegeta was wearing an expression that was a mixture of disbelief, humiliation, and rage. He had never been called soft in his entire life. He was a lot of things, but soft was NOT one of them.

The prince spoke through clenched teeth, "Lord Frieza. That part of my life was in response to a hormonal change some Saiyans go through that triggers bloodlust. Though it was temporary, I have killed plenty since that time, and I will kill plenty more in the future. I have _not_ lost my edge."

"Mmm, yes, you say that, but I am not convinced. The last seven planets I assigned you to, I asked you to purge them and then destroy them. You didn't purge even _one _those planets. You just went straight into destroying them-"

"I did not understand the point of going through a purge, if the planet would be destroyed anyways-"

Frieza abruptly slapped Vegeta hard across the face, with enough strength to force the Saiyan to fall back completely. The prince winced, his entire head hurting from the shot as his eyes unconsciously watered from the sting, but nothing hurt worse than his pride. Getting beaten, he could take. Those open handed shots though were humiliating.

"_Don't _interrupt me again," Frieza hissed, reaching down and grabbing Vegeta by the collar of his armor with one hand. He effortlessly hauled the Saiyan back up to his feet, shaking him roughly while he did. "When I give you an order, boy, it's not for you to pick and choose what to follow. Not every planet was as backwards and worthless as your home planet. Some planets actually have things of _value_, like skilled fighters who can be recruited, or advanced technology I can use. But you won't know unless you do the purge first. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Lord Frieza," Vegeta immediately responded. "I will not make that mistake again."

Frieza slowly released Vegeta's armor, and then chuckled, patting the prince on the side of the face a couple of times. It was all Vegeta could do not to flinch away from the contact.

"Of course you won't, my precious pet. I'm making an investment in you, and I know you won't disappoint me. You are like my son, Vegeta. I know you will make me proud."

"Thank you, Lord Frieza," the prince grumbled, bile in his throat.

"Now then, since we have cleared all of that up. I have some news for you that you might be very interested in. It seems that the fourth member of the rank qualifying squad, a boy from Planet Yentilis…goodness, I've forgotten his name…"

"Wygen," Vegeta quietly said. His brow furrowed a little, before he looked back at Frieza. "He committed suicide earlier today."

"You heard?"

"I saw," the prince corrected, his tone emotionless.

"Yes, well, it's a tragic loss, but as they say - one man's loss is another man's gain. Traditionally, we have four members in the rank qualifying squad, and now, one spot is open. I thought maybe you were still too impulsive and reckless for this, but now I think that this challenge might be what you need. The competitions will be difficult, harder than any assignment you've ever had. The training will be long, grueling, and painful. If you can somehow survive – which is no guarantee - then you will finally be a man. And in the slim chance that you win the competitions, you will have your rank, Vegeta. Do you accept the offer?"

"Yes," Vegeta answered without any hesitation. "I accept."

"Then it's yours. But only under one condition."

Vegeta forced himself not to cringe. He should have known it wouldn't be so simple to get what he wanted. He remained silent, and so Frieza put a hand on his shoulder and turned the young prince around, making him face the door.

"Prove to me that you have not lost your edge, my pet. Kill both of the Tepman soldiers," Frieza ordered, not missing the way Vegeta's fingers started twitching with anticipation of the kill. After the overwhelming stress he had just been under, all the prince wanted to do was indulge in some blood and violence; he was unaware that Frieza had been wanting that very reaction from him. "You have one second from the time the door opens, to kill them, and come back into this room with both of their heads. Show me the killer you really are, and that you haven't grown soft, and the spot on the squad is yours. Do not disappoint me, boy."

"Hn. One second is more than enough time," Vegeta confidently replied, unconsciously leaning forward a little. Frieza chuckled. The prince was an investment indeed. Perhaps there was hope for him yet.

"Show me then," the tyrant challenged, before making the personalized hand signal that made the metallic door slide open.

It only took Vegeta half a second before he was standing before Frieza again. Behind him, in the corridor, two bodies collapsed with loud thuds. There was dark red blood splattered on his armor now, but Vegeta didn't notice as he raised his grisly prizes by their hair, one in each gloved hand, his intense blood-shot eyes not straying from Frieza's.

"Is that enough of an _edge_ for you, Lord Frieza?" Vegeta growled, releasing the heads and letting them fall to the floor.

Frieza chuckled, a small smile on his face. "Delightful display, Vegeta. Yes, that is the edge I like to see. I hope to continue to see it, as you follow my orders in the future to the letter," he added, an unmistakable threat in his voice. "Report to Zarbon for further instruction. Best of luck to you, young prince. I do hope you come out of this in one piece. Dismissed."

Vegeta gave a short bow, and then turned around and walked out. He didn't start breathing again until he was sure that he wasn't going to be called back. Slowing down a little, the prince looked down at the blood on his armor, uniform, and gloves, and scowled at the mess. But it was irrelevant. He was alive, and he had what he wanted – a spot on the elite rank qualifying squad. The means to make the squad didn't matter. He was there now, and it was only a matter of time before he won the status of a rank 5 soldier. In his mind, the hardest part was already over.

Unbeknownst to him, it was only just beginning.


	3. Night off

**A/N: ****This chapter has some insinuated rape. Probably won't be the last. Nothing graphic, but just a warning.**

* * *

><p>Zarbon was standing in front of a huge black digital screen, ignoring the young prince standing right behind him in favor of the advanced mapping of the universe quadrant they were in. He touched the screen and swiped it with his finger, bringing up a different digital display showing blinking red lights on all the different planets. Vegeta was curiously peering up at the display, which took up the entire length of the wall. The red lights were all space pods, and all being tracked. Behind them was a team of technicians, doing work on advanced computers as they scurried about.<p>

The prince would glance back at them every now and then, envy in his dark eyes. The technicians were never physically harmed. They just did their work keeping Frieza supplied with the absolute best in technology, and they were left alone. Though every last one of them had lost their family in a purge, and though they faced immediate death with even one failure, Vegeta still considered them lucky. Compared to him, they lived like kings.

Vegeta frowned as he looked back at Zarbon, impatience in his features. "If you're too preoccupied to deal with me, Zarbon, then just summon me on my scouter when you're ready."

"So impatient," Zarbon chuckled. He switched the display again, and this time there were blue lights on the different planets. Vegeta raised an eyebrow; the red were space pods, but he didn't know what the blue was. Zarbon zoomed in on one planet in particular as he added, "Today is a good day for you, Saiyan. You're alive and you are now on the rank qualifying squad. You should smile for once. It might make you less rough on the eyes."

"Bah, forget this! Just wasting my goddamned time," Vegeta snarled. He spun on his heel and went to march away, when Zarbon quickly grabbed him by the arm and roughly spun him back around. The prince instinctively braced himself for some kind of physical blow, but it didn't come.

"You leave when I let you leave, monkey prince. Don't forget your place," Zarbon warned. Vegeta glared back at him, barely able to restrain from saying something back. Zarbon chuckled again, patting him on the shoulder. "Now. You know all this I'm sure, but let's refresh. Since you are now on the squad, you are hereby granted preliminary rank. You will hold preliminary rank until one man emerges victorious from the competitions. That man will be upgraded to rank 5, and the rest of the squad members will be unranked again. Do you understand?" he asked slowly, as though Vegeta was a mere child.

"Yes, I already knew that," Vegeta snapped.

"Good. You're not as stupid as you look, boy," Zarbon sneered. He turned back to the digital display on the wall, crossing his arms over his armor. "As part of preliminary rank, you are granted immunity. You cannot harm any other member of the squad outside of training and competitions, and they in turn cannot harm you. Also, no other ranked man can touch you. The only exception is for self-defense. Anyone who breaks these rules will answer to me personally. Am I clear?"

"Yes," Vegeta eagerly replied, a smirk creeping up on his face. He had already known he would be given temporary protection just by making the squad. It wasn't much, but it still felt like he had just won the lottery.

"Now, just because you have made the squad doesn't mean you are absolved of your usual responsibilities. I will still be giving you and your fellow monkey brutes assignments, and I expect you to meet all my deadlines."

Vegeta's smirk disappeared. His eyebrows drew together in confusion. The training and competitions he was going to endure were legendary in their brutality. How was he ever going to finish his usual tasks at the same time?

"But—I won't have the time-"

"Would you like to take this up with Lord Frieza?" Zarbon challenged. The teenaged prince frowned. They both already knew the answer to that. No one ever wanted to deal with Frieza if they could help it, and Vegeta was no exception. He remained silent as Zarbon smirked.

"That's what I thought. Now, you have the rest of tonight off, and you report to Dodoria for your first day tomorrow at 080X. I will have a recruiting assignment for you soon on one of these planets on the screen, in a few days. For now, pick up a new armor set in the equipment room. It will be some time before you have another day off, so I suggest you enjoy it tonight while it lasts, monkey prince. Dismissed."

Vegeta lowered his head a little in feigned respect, and then spun on his heel, grumbling to himself as he walked away. He had thought his regular assignments would stop while he engaged in the training and competitions to earn his rank. He had clearly thought wrong.

Minutes later, the prince was putting on a set of new armor. It looked just like his original white set, except it was silver with a black cape attached. The visual signifier that he was not to be touched. The teenager frowned, not liking how it felt. He was debating fastening the cape to his original white armor when the door to the equipment room opened.

"Vegeta!" Nappa greeted, the relief clear in his voice. "We've been trying to reach you!"

The prince scowled but said nothing as he adjusted his armor. He had felt both Raditz and Nappa mentally prodding him to see if he was alright, and he had blocked them out. In his mind, they only cared because if he died, they would soon be next. Thinking of how useless they were without him angered him, and that anger was obvious as he looked up at them now.

"We saw Jhainer leaving earlier. We thought the worst," Raditz admitted.

"You thought wrong," Vegeta hatefully responded. Nappa and Raditz exchanged a confused look, not knowing what had the prince agitated. He looked unscathed for the most part. Finally, Nappa stepped up to the prince.

"So you made it on the squad, huh? That's fantastic, Vegeta!" Nappa laughed, patting the youngest Saiyan on the back. The prince's nose twitched a little at the contact, and Nappa swallowed a little before awkwardly removing his hand.

"It was only a matter of time, idiots," Vegeta gruffly said. "Nothing fantastic about it."

"Oh come on. You're the youngest to ever qualify! That deserves a celebration," Raditz chuckled. "So how about a female from the slave quarters? Someone to get you lighter on your feet before your first day? You can have one now."

Vegeta blinked a bit, forgetting his irritation with them. That was one perk he had forgotten about. He was still deemed too young to actually claim a slave for the night (he was just shy of the minimum age), but now that he had preliminary rank, he could bypass that rule. The sex slaves, consisting of males and females alike, were kept to be used whenever any of the men wanted, and some of the women weren't too hard on the eyes. The young prince had seen his share as Nappa and Raditz frequently took different women over the years, always leaving them in private so he wouldn't see what he always considered a disgusting act.

But now he was older. More of a man. With the changes in his body, came a change of perception. What was once a disgusting act in his eyes was now a tempting experience. He was especially intrigued by the idea that he could be man enough to have a female to himself, and make her submit willingly to him. The prince licked his lips, contemplating for a second, before nodding.

"If you can find me one that's been untouched by all these other fools…perhaps I can make some use of her," Vegeta finally agreed. He smirked a little in anticipation. "We've been given the night off. Might as well take advantage of it while it lasts."

"I'll be back then," Raditz said, smirking a little too. He turned and headed out to the slave quarters to find a female worthy of his prince while Nappa stayed behind with Vegeta.

"Everyone has been given the night off tonight," Nappa informed the young prince. "It doesn't feel right."

Vegeta looked bewildered. "The entire army? That's impossible."

"No, no, not the whole army. Just the men who were on base tonight. They're all down at the Ozo Tavern down southwest. If Raditz can't find a decent female for you, maybe we can go get some drinks there instead."

"Perhaps we can arrange time for both," Vegeta suggested, activating his scouter to see if he could detect who exactly was at the tavern. "It would be good to see who else is on the squad besides Jhainer, and size up the competition."

"I know Cui is one of them."

The prince's eye twitched in annoyance. He and Cui had been rivals since they were both small boys, and were almost dead equal in power. The only notable difference was that Cui was constantly sucking up to Frieza, whereas Vegeta just showed the bare minimum amount of respect so he wouldn't be killed. Cui was a slimeball, a sleaze who was even less trustworthy than the usual man in Frieza's army. He would have to keep a close eye on him.

"Do you know who the fourth man is?"

"No idea. We'll find out soon enough though."

Vegeta's scouter suddenly blinked to life. He reached up and picked up the transmission from Raditz.

"Vegeta, I found you a whore that hasn't been touched."

"Bring her to our quarters," Vegeta ordered, before cutting the line again. Nappa smirked a little in approval. This was the first time he was seeing Vegeta openly showing interest in having a female to himself, and he was grateful for that. It was good to see the prince experience something that didn't involve violence and brutality for once.

Vegeta's anticipation was growing as he headed back to his quarters with Nappa on his heels. He was already in the mood, and he was envisioning different female beauties who would be waiting for him. But when he rounded the last corner and saw the girl that Raditz was gripping by the arm, he crashed back down to reality.

"This is who you got?" Vegeta angrily demanded, stepping towards them before Raditz could enter their quarters.

"Well, she's the only one who was untouched," Raditz explained, looking down at the small alien girl who was practically shaking with terror. The girl's body was silver and shiny, like she was made of metal. She was wearing dirty rags that barely covered her.

Vegeta reached out to grab her other arm, hauling her closer to him. The girl gave a cry of terror, but he was uncaring as his eyes swept over her small frame. Her dark purple hair was dirty, and there were bruises on her body from several beatings. His eyes finally raised to meet her wide, terrified black ones. He scoffed.

"This girl is nothing but a child. She doesn't even seem half my age," Vegeta sneered in disgust. She barely reached his shoulders, and he was already short for his age.

"The girl is a little younger than you, true, but not by much," Raditz tried reasoning. "No other man has had her yet. She's perfect for you."

"I don't want a damn _girl_," Vegeta spat out hatefully. "I'm a man now, and I want a woman. Or is that too hard to understand?"

"But there was no one else, Vegeta," Raditz said, almost pleading. He swallowed a bit as he remembered that the regeneration tanks were down, and any lashing out by the prince would probably kill him without the ability to heal quickly afterwards.

"Hn. So be it then."

Vegeta effortlessly launched the young girl to the opposite wall with barely a flick of his arm. She shrieked in pain after colliding with a sickening thud against the wall. The sound of agony was quickly silenced when Vegeta raised a palm in her direction and fired, the light from his ki flashing through the corridor. When the light was gone, the only thing left of the girl was a darkened spot on the wall where Vegeta's ki had burned through.

"Well," Nappa casually started, as though nothing had just happened. "Since Raditz apparently has poor taste, I can go take a look around the slave quarters, Vegeta. Find someone more suitable for a prince."

"Forget it," Vegeta gruffly dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand. He turned on his heel and started walking away, with Nappa and Raditz quickly following after him. "Let's go to the Ozo Tavern. The night is young yet."

* * *

><p>A few hours later, the Saiyans were sitting together at a small table against the wall of the only tavern on Frieza's base planet. It was exclusively for Frieza's soldiers, which was the primary reason why Vegeta hated going there. He much preferred going to another specific tavern on a different planet run by an old associate of his named Uvi, where few knew who he was, and where he rarely knew anyone else. Here, at the Ozo Tavern, none of that was true.<p>

Still, he wanted to spot who the fourth man in the squad was going to be. Looking around, he saw Cui on the opposite side of the tavern, chugging down drinks with other soldiers while they all laughed and cracked crude jokes. Jhainer was nowhere to be seen. The prince scowled, surveying the tavern again. There was a fight going on in the far corner, a small scuffle between two drunk soldiers. In another corner, two men were engaged in blatant, heated sex. Vegeta purposely avoided looking in that direction. No one else besides Cui was wearing the armor and cape that he was wearing. It seemed the fourth man wasn't there.

"I don't think it's that big a deal," Vegeta heard Raditz saying. He finally turned his attention back to his men as Raditz continued, "We deserve a night off for a change. It doesn't mean anything."

"Don't you remember the last time Frieza gave _everyone_ on base the night off?" Nappa questioned, getting Vegeta's attention.

"I don't remember that," the prince said with a frown. "When the hell was this?"

Raditz leaned back, chugging down his entire mug of a dark green alcoholic beverage. Nappa exhaled slowly, before turning back to the prince.

"We hadn't been here for long. You were still a boy. He gave us all the night off, but you were in the regeneration tank recovering from a beating Frieza gave you. Raditz and I stayed with you, but the next day, half of the men on base were summoned by Zarbon and killed. I remember how weird it felt at the time. It feels like that now."

"Sounds like coincidence to me," Vegeta offered with a shrug, already dismissing the tale as unimportant as he scanned over the tavern again, looking for another black cape.

"Ha! See? Vegeta agrees with me," Raditz boasted loudly, making Nappa growl. "Oh, don't be mad, bald man. One day one of us will agree with your conspiracy theories-"

"Who is that?" Vegeta suddenly interrupted. His fellow Saiyans followed his line of sight, not seeing anyone special.

"Who?" Nappa asked, trying to see who could be of interest. "Thonzin? He's a new recruit-"

"No, not him. _Her._"

Vegeta nodded towards the only female in the entire tavern, who was busy scrambling around, trying to keep about forty drunk soldiers satiated with drinks and food. It was hard for him to guess the female's age, but for sure, she looked older than the slave girl he had killed earlier that night. Her skin was a pale green, but what caught Vegeta's immediate attention were the long, powerful looking wings that ran down the entire length of her back. The wings were folded in place, looking like part of her clothes from a distance, but he could tell the difference. They looked like they would have an impressive wing span if she stretched them out. He was mesmerized by the pattern of green and blue feathers on her wings. It was artistic, and coupled with her thick feminine legs, he was captivated.

"Oh, the woman," Raditz chuckled knowingly. He and Nappa both smirked at the look on Vegeta's face while he stared at the female alien from behind. "I don't know her name, but she is half Legan."

"Half aerial warrior," Vegeta mumbled, his attraction increasing exponentially just at the thought that she might have a warrior's blood in her veins. And he hadn't even seen her face yet.

"You should go introduce yourself," Nappa suggested. "Get your hands on her before anyone else does."

Raditz' smirk disappeared, and he looked down into his drink. "Actually, that might not be a great idea."

Vegeta finally tore his eyes away from the female to look over at the Saiyan sitting on his left. "Why not? What do you know?" the prince demanded, making Raditz shrug uncomfortably.

"I don't know for sure, but I overheard Manzin saying a while back that the new female worker here was his."

"She belongs to Manzin?" Vegeta asked, looking back at the woman as she hurried towards the back to get more alcoholic beverages. He scowled; he still hadn't seen the female from the front.

"Sounds like it."

"Hn. Well, in that case - now I simply _must_ go introduce myself."

Vegeta smoothly got up, and went over in the direction he saw the mysterious winged female walk off in, ignoring Raditz calling out to him that this wasn't a good idea. He dodged the others in the tavern easily, and then frowned when he got to the front counter. The woman was nowhere to be seen. Finally, the prince sat on a levitating slab of marble close to the counter.

Despite his confident stroll over there, the back of Vegeta's neck was tingling with sweat as he realized he had no idea what to say to the female when she appeared. He had very little experience actually talking to a woman without threatening her life or her family's life for some reason or another. Raditz was the smoothest of the three Saiyans; though he wasn't above taking a woman by force, he was quite skilled in getting any woman he wanted, to do whatever he wanted. But Vegeta's pride refused to allow him to ask Raditz for advice, so there he was, wondering what approach to take.

The young prince straightened up when the woman finally emerged through a curtain of lights that led to the back. Her eyes stood out to him first, a hypnotic and reptilian blue. She wasn't blessed with the largest breasts he'd ever seen, and she only had a few long spikes of dark green hair that fell down over the side of her face. But Vegeta was immediately attracted to her nonetheless, already imagining her pinned underneath him, with her flimsy little white straps of clothes gone from her body while they both worked up a good sweat.

The woman placed a drink in front of a higher ranked soldier a few seats down from Vegeta, and then she finally came to stand in front of the Saiyan prince.

"What would you like to drink?" she asked him, casually leaning her hands on the counter. Her voice was very sensual. He already liked it. "Some more of what you and your men ordered earlier?"

Vegeta said nothing, blinking as he stared at her. She blinked back at him for a few seconds, and then sighed, assuming he was far too drunk to speak. The woman went to turn away when Vegeta finally snapped out of it.

"Wait. Do you know who I am, female?" the prince asked, leaning forward in curiosity.

She paused. Her reptilian eyes shifted past him, before she hesitantly answered, "Yes. You're one of the Saiyans. Vegeta, right?"

"That's right. I'm not just any Saiyan though. I'm the Prince of all Saiyans," Vegeta boasted, thinking that would impress her enough to get her somewhere private.

"That's quite nice," she meekly offered, clearly trying to back away from him, which made the prince scowl. He wasn't even trying to frighten her, and she looked terrified.

"I'm not going to kill you," Vegeta tried reassuring her, before flashing a cocky smirk. "I was granted preliminary rank today in Frieza's powerful army. It's a tremendous feat for someone my age, so I'm in a very good mood-"

"Congratulations, that's extraordinary! You know what, I think I'll go get you and your men some more drinks," she interrupted, making the young prince frown. Before the teenager could get another word out, she had already practically dashed through the curtain of lights again.

Vegeta growled, and went to stand up to go after her, when a very strong orange hand landed on his shoulder and forced him back down. The prince glared straight ahead, already knowing who was next to him before he looked. That smell was unmistakable.

"Vegeta," a terse voice greeted.

"Manzin," the Saiyan responded evenly.

He didn't move, even though he saw the other soldier sit down right next to him out of the corner of his eye. The prince frowned though when he saw the black cape attached to Manzin's silver armor set. The fourth man. Of course. He looked forward and inwardly sighed. It was just his luck that one of Frieza's men who hated him the most was the last man on the squad. Vegeta's icy relationship with Manzin made Cui seem like the prince's best friend.

"She's a beauty, isn't she? Her name is Aradeen."

Vegeta scoffed. "You say that like I care."

"It looked like you cared before I came over here. You're making a habit of taking things that don't belong to you, Saiyan. Aradeen is my woman, not yours. And the last spot on the rank qualifying squad was Wygen's, not yours."

"Wygen committed suicide. The spot is mine now. I imagine the fool is too dead to reclaim it."

Vegeta forced himself not to move when he felt Manzin's hand mockingly tugging at the back of his cape. The prince growled low in his throat in warning, making the other soldier chuckle.

"I heard about what happened with Tanus, so I'm just curious, Saiyan. How did you manage to survive against Frieza? Why are you always spared, hmm? Why are you his favorite, when you're so pathetically weak?"

Vegeta's head snapped to the soldier sitting next to him, his eyes narrowed dangerously. His pride and his strength were all he had in this life, and he did not appreciate either being insulted. He glared at Manzin, who had eyes that changed colors rapidly depending on his mood and his thoughts. Right now, his eyes were cold black slits. That corresponded with hatred. It was the only look Vegeta ever saw from him.

"We'll see if you're calling me weak when I rip your heart out after I earn rank, Manzin," Vegeta snarled venomously, his eyes shining with his own hatred.

"Go ahead and try," Manzin challenged, before motioning with his chin towards the back of the tavern. Vegeta turned his head just far enough to see through his peripheral vision. He grunted when he saw Manzin's older brother standing against the wall, arms crossed over his armor while he stared right at them. "I have some backup."

"So do I," Vegeta countered, glancing towards where Nappa and Raditz were seated. Both Saiyans were staring right at them, watching the whole thing and ready to step in.

"My brother is a rank 3 man. He can kill you and your men in his sleep."

"Oh? And where was your brother when the Saiyans purged your pathetic planet long ago?" Vegeta sneered.

Manzin immediately stood up, and so did Vegeta, both of them braced for a fight. The older of the two hissed, his forked tongue flicking out of his mouth under sharp looking yellow fangs. He had short black hair on his head that looked more like fur on his tough orange skin; that hair ran down the back of his neck and coated the back of his arms and hands. In Manzin's rage, his hair was bristling and standing on end. Vegeta had one hand pulled back, his fingers twitching as he prepared to summon his ki at a moment's notice.

But they both hesitated in striking first. Whoever struck first would be punished, with the other absolved in self-defense. Neither wanted to limp into training the next morning, already bruised and beaten before the day even started. Nor was either aware that they had the complete attention of the entire tavern now. Nappa and Raditz in particular were on their feet now, tense for battle.

"You dare mock the purging and destruction of my planet at the hands of your filthy race?" Manzin snarled, barely able to keep hold of his rage.

Vegeta smirked. "My only regret is that I was far too young to participate in that purge. I would have loved slaughtering your family myself."

"I still have my brother. Who do you have, Vegeta?" Manzin demanded, tremendously pleased when he saw Vegeta's smirk disappear. A look of unhinged rage crossed the young Saiyan's features, and more than thirty scouters lit up in response. Manzin chuckled, knowing he had hit a sore spot and delighting in that knowledge.

"Oh, that's right. I heard about the fate of your parents. Just between us – who do you think screamed more in their last moments? Your father, or your mother? Actually, it must have been your mother, right? I heard they raped her before they finally killed her-"

Nappa and Raditz both immediately phased in, grabbing their infuriated prince from behind, just in time to prevent him from lunging at Manzin.

_Don__'__t,__ Vegeta. __He__'__s __just __baiting __you__ so __you__'__ll __be__ at __a __disadvantage, _Nappa sent, using nearly all of his strength to keep Vegeta at bay with Raditz doing the same. Even then, the prince could have easily broken free. But he stopped struggling when he heard Nappa's logic, even though he was shaking with rage.

Manzin chuckled again, and smiled, his forked tongue flicking out again. "It doesn't matter, I suppose. Neither will top how loud their son screams when I finally destroy the last Prince of the Saiyans-"

"What the hell is going on here?" Zarbon's voice rang out angrily. Everyone suddenly turned to the tavern entrance, where Frieza's lieutenant was now striding in, his white cape flowing out behind him. Nappa and Raditz promptly let go of Vegeta, who was now giving Zarbon his full attention, as was Manzin. Zarbon eyed everyone over carefully, before coming over to stand in front of the two young soldiers at the heart of all the conflict. "Didn't you two fools hear my instructions?"

"My apologies, Zarbon," Manzin immediately said. His eyes were wide and purple now with fear as he bowed his head in respect. Zarbon shifted his eyes to Vegeta, who just glared back at him. Zarbon snorted, and then turned around.

"Everyone, back to base immediately!" he ordered. "Your night is done."

Soldiers were grumbling, some barely able to stand, but they all quickly did as they were told. Manzin shot Vegeta one last hateful glance, his black eyes promising misery for the prince if he gained his rank. He then motioned with his head for his brother to come with him, and they both left the tavern.

Finally, only Zarbon and three Saiyans remained. Zarbon slowly turned back to look at Vegeta, and cracked a smirk. The prince smirked back.

"Good to see that you're still alive, Saiyan," Zarbon smoothly drawled.

"Good to be alive, Trikan," Vegeta chuckled, his anger now gone. "You're going to get a good thrashing for that, though."

"Well," Zarbon started, right before a soft yellow beam of light ran from his head down to his feet. When the light was gone, Jhainer was standing in his place, also dressed in the silver set of armor with the black cape, his scaly, blue tail rising up behind him. A slow grin spread over Jhainer's face. "_Technically_, I was helping enforce Zarbon's rules."

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow. "But in reality?"

"In reality, I didn't want you or Manzin getting a beating too soon," Jhainer spoke in his soft voice. "I want you both at one hundred percent going in, so when I win my rank, my victory will be that much sweeter."

"Hn. We shall see about that."

"I'm curious though. How did you know it was me?"

Vegeta glanced at Nappa, who answered, "You can impersonate in appearance and voice. But you can't do it in scent. Zarbon stinks, and you don't."

Jhainer laughed softly, before nodding. "Very useful information. Thank you, Nappa."

"Don't mention it."

Jhainer turned back to the youngest Saiyan, and gave him a nod of respect. "I don't wish you harm, Vegeta. But, I _will_ earn my rank, no matter the cost. If it means your death in the process, then I won't hesitate. I hope you understand."

Vegeta nodded back. Though he wouldn't call Jhainer a friend, he wouldn't call him an enemy either. And in their world, that was the closest anyone ever came to friendship.

"The same goes for you, Jhainer. If I have to kill you to get what I need, then so be it."

"So be it, indeed," the young Trikan agreed, turning and walking away. "See you tomorrow, 080X."

"Hn."

The prince waited until he saw the flash of Jhainer's ki ignite around him outside, before the other boy blasted off into the air. Vegeta then headed out of the tavern, stepping into the night air with Nappa and Raditz flanking him.

"Do you think we can trust Jhainer, Vegeta?" Raditz wondered aloud.

"A little, but not too much," Vegeta cautioned. "His shape shifting ability could be deadly if he wished it so. From now on, we will confirm first that we are truly speaking to each other," he said, tapping his temple to signify the use of telepathy. His Saiyan comrades nodded their agreement.

"Hey Vegeta, how did it go with that chick, before Manzin interrupted everything?" Nappa curiously asked.

Vegeta growled at the reminder of that failure. He shot Nappa a glare. "Shut up, Nappa! We have more important things ahead than some useless female slave! Now let's go back to base. Zarbon said this will be our last break for a while. Might as well get rest while we can."

Even though the Saiyans went back to their room and turned off the light to sleep, the prince remained awake long into the night, staring up at the ceiling. Vegeta's mind was filled with visions of him moving up in rank, until he was stronger than anyone else in Frieza's army. Then the day would come when he would be stronger than Frieza himself. He would then kill Frieza and his family, and then rise up to take his place as leader of the universe. The thought brought a small smile to his face. He would have power, women, glory in battle. He would have it all.

The young prince finally fell asleep after a few hours, looking forward to the next day for the first time in years.


	4. First day

It was pitch black in the Saiyan quarters. Vegeta was facedown, only in his blue uniform pants, his green scouter pushed up awkwardly on his face while he snored softly. He had settled into a deep sleep only twenty minutes ago after restlessly waking up every half hour or so. Frieza's base was dead silent, with more than half the men passed out in their quarters from their drinking. It could almost pass as peaceful.

It didn't last long.

All three Saiyans suddenly sat up when an alarm started blasting all throughout base, loud enough so that only the dead wouldn't notice it. That alarm was only sounded during the rare times when Frieza was summoning all of his men, and being late was usually a death sentence. And they were already late by Frieza's standards. Vegeta cursed as they all shot up to their feet and hastily began getting dressed.

"Shit! Where's my scouter!" Raditz yelled in dismay as Nappa quickly yanked a boot on while hopping on one leg.

"You better find it!" Vegeta growled, pulling his armor down before snatching up his white gloves. "Full uniform, imbecile!"

"It was right here-!"

"No time!" Nappa snapped.

He hadn't gotten both words out before Vegeta bolted out the door, though Nappa was soon right on his heels. They easily merged with the herd of soldiers running straight towards the Cold Gathering Chamber, the largest room on base. Though Vegeta had no idea why Frieza was summoning them, he already knew that it wouldn't be good. It was never good. Without wanting to, his mind drifted to Nappa's feeling of unease the night before. He chanced a quick glance over his shoulder. Nappa was right behind him, as was Raditz, but the latter was missing a scouter. It seemed Raditz had decided that the punishment for not being in full uniform was preferable to being late.

Vegeta slowed down just a little bit, until he was running next to another soldier – a short, stocky yellow alien, with long white hair, already out of breath from the short run. Obviously unranked, being in such poor condition. An easy target.

The Saiyan prince made a swift, impulsive decision, and suddenly attacked, striking him hard in the side of the head with a closed fist. The alien shrieked out in surprise, knocked completely off course as he stumbled and came to a crashing stop on the floor, making the men running behind him nearly topple over him. Vegeta easily snatched the red scouter that flew off the other soldier's face when he fell, and then tossed it over his shoulder to Raditz, who caught it effortlessly and slipped it on.

A few seconds later, and the Saiyans finally ran into the Cold Gathering Chamber, as some of Frieza's lieutenants screamed at them all to line up properly. All of the soldiers lined up in neat, ordered lines, in order by rank. Vegeta lined up in the last row, with Nappa and Raditz each on either side of him. As soon as they did, the large metallic doors behind them slid shut and the blasting alarm finally stopped.

Vegeta swallowed heavily, staring straight ahead. He knew just by sight alone that almost a quarter of Frieza's men were on the wrong side of those metallic doors. The thought hadn't been completely formed in his mind, when he heard the screaming outside of the chamber. The slaughter scream. He knew it intimately. It seemed that the punishment for being late this morning was a painful death, which provided a glimpse into Frieza's mood.

The young prince subtly glanced around, catching a still hung-over soldier being forcefully dragged out of the room to join the slaughter. Armor, boots, and scouter were always required when meeting Frieza, and this particular alien was lacking his scouter. Death seemed to be the punishment for that too. The soldier was screaming for forgiveness for the minor transgression. The screams grew muffled when he was dragged from the room, and then ended altogether. Vegeta looked ahead again, but he could feel furious eyes on him. It hadn't escaped his attention that the soldier whose scouter he had stolen wasn't in attendance. Not that he cared that he had inadvertently sentenced the man to death. Better he die than Raditz, after all.

Finally, all the screams were silenced. Frieza casually strolled out from a side entrance, followed by Zarbon, and then Dodoria. When he came to a stop in front of his men, they all simultaneously lowered to one knee. Everyone was tense with fear though no one dared show it. The tyrant looked everyone over, his cold eyes unreadable.

"I was generous last night, granting you all the night off to rest. It seems some men thought that rest extended over into today. I'm sure you all heard what happened to them, and we will leave their bodies in the corridors for the rest of the day as a kind reminder that tardiness is unacceptable. When I summon you all here, I expect you all to be here on time, and dressed appropriately. I will not tolerate anything less. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Lord Frieza," everyone obediently replied in unison.

"Glad we cleared that up then," Frieza deadpanned, his tail whipping behind him betraying his irritation. Vegeta lowered his head to avoid eye contact when the tyrant looked in his direction. He was far from the only soldier who did so. Frieza slowly began walking along the front, studying each man, as though taking inventory of those who were dead outside the doors.

"It has come to my attention that the men in Cooler's ranks outscored all of my men in every meaningful category in the annual reports for my father. I cannot express my disappointment in this, and we will work to remedy these deficiencies effective immediately. My Galactic Army is superior to any other military force in the entire universe, _especially _my brother's, and it's time we begin raising our standard again."

Vegeta and Nappa subtly exchanged a wary look. That didn't sound good for anyone.

"From now on, there will be a zero-tolerance policy for failure of any kind, or any lack of discipline. Punishment will be severe for anyone who tries my patience, so I don't recommend it. The weak will eventually be weeded out of the ranks, and fresh blood will soon be brought in to replace them. Zarbon is preparing various recruitment missions, which most of you will receive in the coming days.

"But please, don't think I don't genuinely care about each and every one of you. This is a nurturing environment, and I want you all to excel here and reach your full potential. As such, I will make sure there is enough food provided every day for all of you, and that the regeneration tanks are upgraded with the latest equipment for faster healing. In addition, after the completion of ten assignments in a row, each of you will have one night off to do as you please. These changes on my part show my commitment to each of you. I expect the same commitment in return. Understood?"

"Yes, Lord Frieza."

"Excellent. The last order of business is the kind man in the back."

Everyone turned around, and just a few feet behind Raditz was one of Frieza's technicians. The alien was a black beast, hunched over and spikes emerging all over his furry body. He would have looked menacing were it not for the terror in his three wide gray eyes. He raised one hand up, showing a strange device Vegeta didn't recognize.

"His name is Rion, and each of you will meet with him for a few seconds on your way out. The device in his hand will give us a deeper reading on your psychological states. Those who have a score under 40 percent, report to Zarbon after this. In a show of my good faith, we will tailor a plan for each of you to help you with any mental deficiencies. Hopefully with all of these changes, you can all prove that you are better than all of Cooler's men combined. Dismissed."

"Psychological states?" Nappa whispered to Vegeta as they both stood up and got in line to meet with Rion. Since they were already in the back, they would be one of the first to be tested. "What does that even mean?"

"I don't know," Vegeta admitted, frowning as he recalled his personal evaluation with Shimdro. He specifically recalled the shock on the round alien's face with some of his answers to the psychological questions. That wasn't a good sign.

"I think he's referring to suicidal tendencies," Jhainer's soft voice spoke from behind him.

The Saiyans all looked back, and Vegeta blinked a bit at the sight of the young Trikan. Though trying valiantly to hide it, Jhainer was clearly in a substantial amount of pain. He couldn't quite keep the grimace out of his features, and his walking was more like awkward, painful shuffling. More telling, his long, thorny tail was being dragged behind him, like he didn't have the strength to raise it.

"What the hell happened to you?" Raditz asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Fell off my cot this morning," Jhainer replied, an edge to his usually gentle voice.

Vegeta snorted in disbelief. "Got a thrashing from Zarbon for that stunt you pulled, didn't you?"

Jhainer fell in line right behind Vegeta. He then directed his one-eyed white stare directly onto the prince. "Manzin figured out what I did," he softly admitted. "Ratted me out to Zarbon. But don't get too excited, Saiyan. It won't slow me down today."

"I wouldn't count on it, Trikan."

"Anyways, you remember what Shimdro told Frieza, don't you, Vegeta? About the suicide rates being high? Well, while Zarbon was taking a break from beating the life out of me, I overheard him and Dodoria talking. Turns out the suicide rate for Cooler's men is practically zero. You know that probably angered Lord Frieza quite a bit."

Vegeta frowned thoughtfully, and looked towards the front of the line, where Raditz now was. The Saiyan had to bend down to Rion, who put the device up to his eye that wasn't covered with a scouter. He held it there for a few seconds, and then the device beeped. Raditz looked at his number, and then stepped out, pausing to wait for his fellow Saiyans. Nappa stepped up next.

"What if the damn thing doesn't even work and gives the wrong number by mistake?" Vegeta whispered, looking over his shoulder at Jhainer.

"I don't think it matters," the other boy quietly answered. "He said he wouldn't kill anyone over it, unless he's willing to kill over half the men here…"

_Raditz and I stayed with you, but the next day, half of the men on base were summoned by Zarbon and killed…_

Vegeta looked away as he remembered Nappa's words from the night before. But there was nothing he could do if this little machine output the wrong number. After Nappa was done, the prince stepped forward, and remained perfectly still while Rion put the device up to his eye. It was a dark cylinder with a blinking blue light at the end. The blinking stopped, an uncomfortably bright light scanned Vegeta's eye.

He pulled away and checked the number: 48.

Vegeta exhaled in relief, and then walked out of the Cold Gathering Chamber – only to be greeted by the sight of the morning's massacre. There were body limbs thrown about, blood splattering the otherwise pristine walls. The prince's nose twitched at the sight of all the gore. These men had worked hard for Frieza for a long time, and this was how they died. A not-so-subtle reminder that their lives meant nothing, and that one day he might be splattered over the walls too.

"Thanks for earlier, Vegeta," Raditz genuinely said. Vegeta just grunted with indifference as other soldiers trickled out behind him. He didn't care for either Raditz or Nappa, but he was still thankful there was no Saiyan blood painting the walls. There weren't many Saiyans around anymore, after all.

"What time is it?" Vegeta demanded, looking over at Nappa.

"0709. You still have a little time."

"Probably not," the prince grumbled, warily looking back over at the bloodied wall next to him. "Punctuality is the theme of the day."

"You probably want to leave soon," Raditz said, his hand on his activated scouter. He looked off to the side. "Dodoria's already on the move. He's heading south. Guess that's where it starts."

"Yes," Jhainer chimed in, finally shuffling over to the Saiyans. "He mentioned that to Zarbon this morning when they were talking. Training is on the south end."

Vegeta's face remained indifferent, but his tail tightened around his waist. Almost no one ventured over to the south end of the planet, and for good reason. It was freezing cold there. But if that was where they had to go, then so be it.

"Vegeta," Jhainer's voice cut into his thoughts. The teenaged prince shot him an impatient glare. "We could help each other for the early parts. Be allies."

"Your offer is unnecessary, Jhainer. I don't need help," Vegeta scoffed in disgust. Almost on cue, Manzin and his brother walked past them, both of them eyeing the Saiyan prince with pure contempt. Vegeta sneered at them threateningly.

Jhainer chuckled. "Very well. Have it your way. If you're leaving now, I'll leave with you."

"Fine. I need fresh air anyways," Vegeta grumbled, turning around and walking off down the hall. He nonchalantly kicked aside the severed head of the soldier he had punched earlier. Jhainer followed him, managing to keep pace despite his injuries while stepping around the corpses.

"We're going to see what Zarbon has for us to do, then we'll be over to watch," Raditz called out to Vegeta. The prince just gave an indifferent wave of his hand, not turning around. The competitions were open and anyone was allowed to watch, but it didn't matter to him if Raditz and Nappa were there to see.

"We have just enough time to make it there," Jhainer said, activating his scouter over his good eye once they stepped outside. "Manzin and his brother are already on their way."

"Yes, and Cui is back with Frieza," Vegeta noted, his scouter activated and running too as he glanced back at base.

"Shall we?"

"Hn," Vegeta levitated a little bit into the air. "Try to keep up, Trikan," he taunted, before his powerful blue ki ignited around him.

The prince then blasted off into the sky, heading straight towards the south end of the planet. His scouter beeped as Jhainer immediately followed him. Vegeta didn't look behind him, but he followed Jhainer's distance on the scouter, prepared to defend himself if the Trikan dared attack him from behind. But seconds passed into minutes, and no attack came. Vegeta didn't let his guard down, but he slowly relaxed a little. Moreover, he was impressed Jhainer could keep up with him despite his injuries.

The prince reached up to his scouter, and rotated the display to the current time. He would be early at this rate, and have time to kill. A smirk tugged on his lips as he deactivated his scouter completely, and then he diverged in his path. Jhainer froze in midair, confusion in his good eye as he watched Vegeta head off towards the southwest.

"What are you doing? You're going to be late!" Jhainer shouted after him. But Vegeta ignored him, or maybe didn't hear him at all. The young Trikan grunted a little and shook his head. "Crazy Saiyan," he muttered, before resuming his flight towards the south end.

Several minutes later, Vegeta landed in front of the Ozo Tavern. Like he suspected, none of Frieza's men were there. But that didn't mean the place was deserted. He subtly peeked in through the dirty window, and caught movement inside. The Saiyan withdrew so he was out of sight, and then made sure his black cape was properly secured to his silver armor set. He then ran both hands up into his flamed hair, as though trying to tame it as best he could. When he was satisfied, he walked into the tavern.

Aradeen was busy vigorously scrubbing the floor, grumbling things under her breath regarding drunk soldiers. The pale green skin on her hands, so soft and untainted before she was offered up to Frieza, was getting more and more calloused each day. But, there were worse fates for women in Frieza's service. Between being raped continuously every day for the rest of her life, and serving drunk and obnoxious soldiers, she tried not to complain.

But she couldn't quite keep the flash of exasperation off her face when a pair of white boots settled right in front of her, dirtying the floor she was busy cleaning. Aradeen slowly looked up and made eye contact with Vegeta as he smirked down at her.

"Yes?" she warily asked, her discomfort clear. Manzin had threatened her with her life if she even looked at the youngest Saiyan, but how could she not look at him now? He was the only one there, and he would probably kill her outright if she disrespected him by ignoring him.

"We were rudely interrupted last night, so I don't remember if I told you, but today's my first day of training to earn rank," Vegeta boasted, his arms crossed over his silver armor. "I thought perhaps you would want to wish me good luck beforehand, slave."

"Oh. Yes. Good luck," Aradeen easily replied, trying her best not to show her fear of him. She reached over to pick up her cleaning rag again, when Vegeta kicked it out of her reach.

"And just so we're clear," Vegeta casually said, slowly squatting down in front of her. He leaned in close to her, intrigued when she didn't flinch away from him. "Manzin's days are numbered. I'm going to kill him sooner rather than later. And once he's dead, perhaps…I can get a little more from you than _good luck_."

"I think you should go…" Aradeen uncomfortably said, looking away from those intense dark eyes. "You don't want to be late on your first day of training."

Vegeta grunted, scrutinizing her delicate facial features. Now he understood why Raditz and Nappa sometimes took women by force. Doing it any other way would take time. But damn, would it be rewarding to see the look on Manzin's face if he got this woman to willingly give herself to him. The prince smirked, and slowly stood up.

"Yes. I don't want to be late," the prince agreed. "And you might want to think about what I said. This is quite an honor for you, after all. I will be a rank 5 man soon, but you will always be a slave girl. Don't forget that." As though to prove his point, Vegeta shoved the container of cleaning fluid over with his boot, spilling it onto the floor. He chuckled at the flash of anger in Aradeen's eyes, though she wisely bit her tongue. "Get back to work, girl. I'll see you soon."

Aradeen glared at his back as Vegeta walked out, shaking her head while she resumed her cleaning. The prince didn't notice as he quickly took to the air, moving as fast as he could to make it to his training on time. He couldn't resist the smirk creeping over his face though. He had hopefully put the slave girl in her place, made her realize how fortunate she was that someone of his power was even looking her way. Soon, he would have her. She would be his personal reward after earning his rank.

It was growing colder and colder the closer he got to the south end. Vegeta grit his teeth as the temperature shifted. It was eating away through his uniform on his arms and his legs, chilling his skin rapidly with his flying speed and forcing him to raise his ki as high as he could to stay warm.

A few minutes later, Vegeta landed where the rest of the squad was. He was the last one to arrive, and lined up next to Jhainer, who just shook his head at him. Manzin leaned in closer to Cui, and whispered something to him. Cui smirked and nodded. The prince frowned, more concerned with the ground than his competition. It was some black, cold, slippery substance, laid out over ice. Unreliable, difficult to get traction with his boots. It was also much colder here than Vegeta had anticipated. Every breath he released was visible in the frigid air.

"You're late, Saiyan," Dodoria's angry voice called out, immediately getting Vegeta's attention. The prince scowled and checked his scouter, looking at the time.

"No, I'm not," he argued. "I'm early-"

"You're the last one to arrive," Dodoria cut in. He slowly walked up in front of them, coming to a stop in front of Vegeta. "That means you're _late_, monkey boy. I'll see that Zarbon punishes you for that later."

Vegeta clenched his fists, but stayed silent. Dodoria walked backwards for a bit, as though taking them each in.

"Alright boys, I'm sure you all know the rules," he finally began. "Zarbon should've briefed you on the basics, so we'll skip that. The way this works is simple. Every day there is training. You are only excused from training if Zarbon or Lord Frieza gives you an assignment, or you are in a regen tank. Every few days, instead of training, there will be a competition. Win a competition, get a point. Zero points for anything other than first place. Can't show up to a competition because you got an assignment, or you're recovering in a tank? You get zero points. First man to five points will be upgraded to rank 5. You all got it, or is anyone too stupid to understand?"

No one said anything. Dodoria nodded in approval.

"Good then. Because even though it sounds easy, the competitions aren't going to be easy. Each of you can fire ki; big deal. A backwards child can fire ki. Your fighting skills are also a joke on the whole. The goal is to improve all your skills. You'll learn how to handle a variety of weapons. You'll learn infiltration techniques. You'll learn survival skills in the wilderness of a planet you don't know. You'll learn everything you need to handle all kinds of assignments that come with high rank.

"Now, on average, one person dies every time I run this damn thing. That means there's a 25 percent chance each of you is already a corpse. Anyone want to step down?"

Everyone shook their head. Vegeta looked off to the side as more and more soldiers began coming by, forming a sloppy semi-circle behind the four young soldiers. The first day was always the most popular. He doubted any would be there in the end.

"Good. Then let's get started," Dodoria muttered in boredom, taking a bite of something green and crunchy in one hand while he studied a black device in his other hand. When it beeped, he tossed aside what he was eating and reached up to his scouter, activated it, and looked at the teenaged Saiyan. "Gotta log power levels before we start. How strong are you, monkey prince?"

"Stronger than these three, certainly," came the cocky reply.

"We'll see about that…7,100 for Vegeta."

Dodoria entered the number, before directing his scouter to Jhainer. The young Trikan was standing straight, holding his tail up behind him while he stared emotionlessly at Dodoria. The scouter ran, and then beeped.

"7,000 for Jhainer," Dodoria announced, nodding as he logged it. He then redirected his scouter to Manzin as Vegeta caught Jhainer's eye.

"Weakling," the prince whispered, smirking arrogantly. Jhainer chuckled softly and looked ahead again.

"7,500 for Manzin," Dodoria called out. Vegeta's smirk disappeared, and his nose twitched as he glared at the older boy on the other side of Jhainer. Manzin's chest puffed out with pride as he stared straight ahead, his eyes now a bright blue as a grin tugged on the corner of his mouth. Vegeta wondered what color his eyes would become when he was dead.

"And 7,050 for Cui," Dodoria droned on, logging the data in.

"Least I'm not the weakest one here," Cui laughed loudly. Jhainer gave him a look that could have killed.

"Quiet, boy. We'll see which of you is truly weak today," Dodoria snapped, making Cui's laughter immediately stop. "Now because today is the first day and it's oh so special, we're going to start with a competition. That means one of you lucky bastards will get a point right off the bat. Follow me," he ordered, before turning around and leisurely walking away from them.

The four boys behind him quickly followed suit. Even though Vegeta tried remaining apart, Manzin easily wound up walking next to him. Vegeta scowled as Cui came up on his other side.

"What's going on with your punctuality, Vegeta? If you're that eager for Zarbon to knock your teeth down your throat, you could have just asked me," Manzin snidely remarked. "I would've done you the favor, free of charge. I'm stronger than you, after all."

"Ahhh, he thinks he's too good to play by the rules," Cui snorted. "Taking advantage of Lord Frieza liking you, aren't you, Vegeta?"

"Actually, fish-head, I was taking advantage of someone else liking me," Vegeta calmly said, glancing at Manzin out of the corner of his eye. "A female, to be exact."

"Is that so?" Manzin growled, his blue eyes changing until they were black slits as his hair stood on end. Vegeta shrugged nonchalantly, but he couldn't keep the smirk off his face. "And who was this female?"

"I seem to have forgotten her name," Vegeta innocently said, his smirk spreading. "How rude of me. I'll ask her after she's done screaming my name."

Manzin looked beyond irate as he visibly contemplated whether a fight right now with Vegeta would be worth the punishment he'd receive later. Before he could decide, though, Dodoria called them to attention. The four young soldiers lined up properly as Dodoria addressed them again.

"Each of you has been given a different device to enhance your skills. The first competition is to retrieve your device. Whoever retrieves it first will earn a point. All four devices have been hidden here." Dodoria gestured behind him, and was met with four confused stares. Dodoria sighed, rolling his eyes. "Goddamned stupid kids," he growled under his breath. "Look down!"

They all did, and then saw that the black slippery substance stopped right behind Dodoria. Then there was a large, seemingly bottomless stretch of dark liquid. It could have been water, but it was hard to tell. Vegeta tried getting some smell from it, but he got nothing.

"Vegeta's color is blue. Jhainer, white. Manzin, red. And Cui, green. Your device will have a blinking light attached with your color on it. They've all been hidden well, so I hope you can all swim," Dodoria laughed sadistically. "Everyone understand?"

"Yes," they all responded, nodding.

"Good. Now strip down. No armor, no boots, no gloves, no scouters. Hurry up!" Dodoria yelled at them as they each quickly stripped to just their uniform pants, even though he himself was dressed in extra uniform layers to keep himself warm.

Vegeta grit his teeth when he felt the cold wind biting at his bare skin as he pulled down his uniform top. He had limited exposure to this type of weather, especially without his gear. It took effort not to start shivering and display weakness. Looking over at his competition, he saw that Cui was definitely feeling the cold. He had stripped as ordered and was now trying to blow warm air into his cold hands. Manzin looked like he couldn't be more comfortable. With thick black hair that could pass as animal fur covering his chest and back, no doubt he was warm. Jhainer also didn't look bothered at all by the cold. Trika was cold, and the scales on his body were an adaptation to keep him warm.

The four lined up right along the edge of the dark liquid greeting them. Vegeta tried peering down into it, looking for blinking lights. He saw nothing except darkness, and so he took as deep a breath as he could manage.

"There will be no ki use allowed. Understood?" Dodoria asked. Everyone nodded, all four of them leaning forward. Vegeta was already holding his breath. "Go!" Dodoria shouted.

They all dove in at the same time, and disappeared under the liquid. Vegeta felt like he had been stabbed by thousands of knives all at once – definitely water, but it was freezing and almost made him lose his breath. He tried ignoring it as much as possible as he quickly swam deeper and deeper. He could feel the others swimming with him, each of them relentless. They swam on and on for a few minutes, and then one of them apparently couldn't hold his breath anymore and turned around, quickly swimming back for the surface. Vegeta couldn't tell who it was, and he had no time to look. The cold had made him numb to feeling, and he could hold his breath for quite a while. And so he focused on looking for the blinking blue light.

He was so focused on his task that he never saw Manzin coming until the older boy was barreling right into him, slamming into his midsection. Vegeta instinctively opened his mouth, and immediately regretted it. He quickly snapped his mouth shut as he was slammed face-first into a wall of rock, but it was too late. He had a mouth full of water, and even though he forced himself to swallow it, he had already lost most of the air in his lungs. Whereas before he could have lasted almost half an hour holding his breath, now he would be lucky to last a couple minutes.

Vegeta spun around, fighting Manzin off him, barely holding back on using his ki. He slammed his fist into Manzin's face, and was met with a hard knee to the stomach. Vegeta's teeth ripped through his bottom lip completely as he forced his mouth to stay closed. In the split second it took for him to recover, Vegeta felt something snap around his ankle, before Manzin rapidly swam away. The Saiyan immediately went after him, when the lock on his ankle snapped him back.

Vegeta whirled back around, trying hard to see what the hell was on his ankle, but he couldn't make it out through the dark water. He pulled as hard as he could, but whatever Manzin had locked around his ankle did not budge. The prince pulled up and reached down to feel it. It was a metal chain, and by the feel of it, it had been there quite a while. A quick survey of the rock wall showed that there were a bunch of chains hooked up on there. Manzin's brother must have shared this valuable input, no doubt discovered during his own training to make rank.

When Vegeta's hand hit upon what could only be the bones from someone who had long ago died in this exact same situation, panic seized him. He frantically started clawing on the rock wall to free the piece the chain was attached to. He slammed his fists into the wall relentlessly, not feeling the skin of his knuckles being shredded as a result. His lungs were starting to burn, his eyes starting to hurt. Finally, the desperate prince said to hell with it; he would use his ki and blast his way out. He was loathed to lose this competition, but better lose the competition than his life, especially when there would be other opportunities.

Just as he pulled away from the rock wall to summon up the necessary ki, Vegeta saw it. Wedged above him in a small divot was something that was blinking blue.

That must have been his device. How the hell had he missed it? He forced the thought out of his mind. He had found it, now he needed to free it, then free himself, then get the hell out of there. Vegeta gripped the handle of his device as tight as he could and yanked on it, but it had no give. He then braced both of his feet against the rock wall, and pulled back with all the raw strength he had. After ten seconds, he freed the handle – nothing but a handle, but there was no mistaking the blue light blinking at the end of it.

The prince then turned his attention back to the ankle chain. In desperation, he steeled his nerve, and then slammed his fist as hard as he could on his foot, shattering his own ankle. His face turned red as he tried not to breathe, and then he finished the job by breaking his foot for good measure. The pain shot up his whole leg and up his spine, and Vegeta couldn't help the instinctive hiss that escaped through his nose. He rapidly slipped off the lock around his ankle, and then started to frantically swim back up.

He felt rapid movement below him, and knew that someone else was also swimming back up. But the more he exerted himself, the worse the strain was on his lungs, making them feel like they were going to burst inside his body. Against his will, his movements started to grow more sluggish as he gradually began to lose consciousness.

Jhainer finally caught up to the prince seconds later, and noticing that the other teenaged boy wasn't going to make it on his own, he hooked his arm around Vegeta's chest from behind as he propelled them both back up with his powerful tail. Half a minute later, they both broke through the surface of the dark water.

Jhainer gasped desperately for air, and when he could finally breathe again, he swam back towards the edge, pulling Vegeta along with him. When he got there, he flung the limp Saiyan teenager up over the edge with one arm, and then climbed out himself. Vegeta unconsciously rolled over so he was face down as he started sputtering and coughing, his soaking wet body shivering with the exposure to the cold.

"Sorry, boys. No points for second and third place," Manzin taunted, before laughing. Jhainer glared at him as he sluggishly got up to his feet.

"You're a damn coward, Manzin," Jhainer hissed through his razor sharp teeth. "You attacked me from behind while I was trying to free my device!"

"Pay better attention, Trikan," Dodoria chuckled. "The rules Zarbon gave you were that you could not attack each other _outside of training and competitions. _I didn't give any rules for this competition. I just said whoever came back first with his device would win. Cui came back first, but he had nothing. Manzin came back next, with his device. So Manzin wins and is now ahead by one point. Congratulations, kid."

"Thank you," Manzin said, his eyes bright blue again as he grinned triumphantly. He didn't look fazed at all by the cold, even though he too was soaking wet.

"You all get a short break, but no getting dressed. Stay like you are. We'll begin the day's training in a little bit," Dodoria announced, wandering off to a small container he had off to the side, filled with warm food and beverages just for himself.

Manzin wandered away towards his brother, who was already waiting to congratulate him. Sitting off to the side was Cui, who looked angry that he was the only one now without a weapon. Of the four, he was the worst at holding his breath, and so he was doomed to fail right from the start. Jhainer winced as he gingerly sat down, inspecting the wound on his side that Manzin had inflicted on him. It was a deep cut, and there was dark blue blood trickling out of it.

Meanwhile, Raditz and Nappa were crouched next to Vegeta, who was slowly rolling onto his back. If they had been alone, they would have each tried to cover the young prince with something to give him warmth, which was what he badly needed. There was already ice beginning to form on his tail and in his hair, and he was unnaturally pale. But offering him help now where others could see was a terrible idea, one that would incur Vegeta's wrath later. So they each did nothing but watch as the prince sluggishly started to pull himself up.

"What happened?" he groggily asked, squinting at his fellow Saiyans.

"Manzin won. He's got a point now," Nappa responded. "Jhainer got you out."

"Damn it," Vegeta grumbled, sitting up now. He shook his head rapidly to shake off the excess water like an animal, and then elevated his ki as much as he could to warm up a little bit. It barely helped. He was freezing and was helpless to stop his shivering. Looking down, he winced at the sight of his right foot. It was badly swollen despite the cold, and a sick mix of red and blue. He doubted that he would be able to get it back inside his boot. Gingerly, he pulled his foot up so it was on his left knee to further inspect the damage. "Manzin got me when I wasn't fucking looking. Foolish of me. I should have expected it," he quietly growled, not knowing if he was angrier with Manzin or with himself. "They had chains down there."

"Yes, his brother was bragging about giving Manzin that information. And besides, Manzin got Jhainer too. Seems his brother gave him some real good advice on how to play this," Nappa bitterly added.

"Hn," Vegeta grunted, prodding his broken foot with his fingers and flinching every so often. "That's fine. There is still a long way to go."

"So what did you get?" Raditz asked, sitting down now next to the prince. "Manzin got an invisibility cloak."

Vegeta looked down at his left hand, which was still clutching the handle he had freed. It took some effort to relax his grip enough to inspect it. It didn't help that his hands were shaking from the cold. The young prince frowned, turning it over a few times. It was a black metallic handle with a blinking blue light on the tip. He shook it, squeezed it, tried pressing the tip, but nothing happened.

"What the hell kind of weapon is this? Am I supposed to throw this at my enemy and hope it kills them or something?" he sneered.

"They all look the same," Jhainer suddenly cut in. Vegeta looked over at him, not knowing what to make of the boy saving him. He was grateful to be alive, but not grateful of being saved, and so he said nothing as he glared at Jhainer. If the young Trikan was bothered though by the lack of thanks, he didn't show it. He squatted down and showed the Saiyans what he had retrieved. "See. Looks just like yours, Vegeta, except mine has a white light. And when I hold it tight and imagine where I want to go…"

Jhainer squeezed the handle in his hand, and vanished. The Saiyans all blinked a bit, and then jumped with a start when Jhainer suddenly reappeared right behind Nappa.

"It's a teleporter," he said, a small smirk spreading over his face. "You have to play with it and figure out what yours does, but it definitely does something."

"Hn."

Dodoria then yelled at them all to line up. The prince forced himself back up to his feet, and then gently tried putting weight on his right foot. When he couldn't, he levitated until he was lined up, and then slowly descended down with all his weight on his left leg. He and Cui were visibly shaking from how cold they were, even as they both tried to get it under control. Jhainer wasn't able to fully stand with the wound in his side coupled with the thrashing he had taken early that morning from Zarbon, the marks of which were fresh on his scaled back. He was forced to keep one hand on his side to keep the bleeding under control. Only Manzin was standing easily, but ice was starting to settle on the hair on his body. The parts that weren't covered with hair – mainly his face, his hands, and his feet – were starting to turn white.

Dodoria scanned them all over while he drank something warm from a small wooden mug. He then chuckled.

"What's the matter? You all look like you've been through hell, and we haven't even started!" he mockingly shouted at them. He paused to take another drink from his mug. "Alright, children. It's time to see what you've all got. You're going to each learn to use your new devices in battle, and I will teach you each a new technique for hand-to-hand combat. It's just going to keep getting colder and colder today, boys, so best learn to suck it up and deal with it." Vegeta snorted mockingly, drawing Dodoria's attention. "You got something to say to me, monkey boy?"

The prince snarled out, "I'd like to see you deal with this cold, you fat blob of pink lard-"

Dodoria moved too fast for Vegeta to follow, but the pain that promptly fired up his right leg was intense. The young Saiyan collapsed in a heap, instinctively grabbing onto his broken foot as he bit down on his lip so he wouldn't scream. He forgot that his bottom lip was badly ripped open from his struggle with Manzin underwater. He rolled onto his knees, pressing his throbbing face against the cold black substance of the ground as he willed the excruciating pain in his foot to stop.

"Just earned yourself a worse thrashing with Zarbon, boy," Dodoria casually said, already back where he had originally been standing. "Next time you disrespect me, I'll kill you myself. Lord Frieza might have a fondness for you, but I don't. Now stand up, before I make sure you never get back up."

"Um, Dodoria?" Cui called out, waving awkwardly. "I don't have one of those device things…am I going to get one?"

"Sure, fish boy. When you jump back in and get it yourself, then you can have it. Now, each of you come over here…"

Try as he might, Vegeta could barely keep up in the training that ensued. The cold wind was merciless, and on his damp, half-naked body, it was numbing him and slowing him down. He found it harder and harder to focus on what Dodoria was telling him, even when he was right in his face explaining something. Fatigue was overwhelming him, and when he started feeling hot, he knew that the cold was getting to him. The prince could barely keep his grip on the handle of his weapon as Dodoria screamed in his ear for him to use it. _Ki enhancer. _That's what it was. Designed to teach him more discipline with manipulating his ki. But even though he tried following the directions on how to use it, nothing came out of it. Finally, in frustration, the teenager snarled that it was a broken piece of shit.

Dodoria then snatched it out of his hand, turned the handle towards the other trainees, who were all practicing new fighting techniques while Dodoria worked one on one with Vegeta. Three strands of bright orange ki emerged from the handle, like ropes. The ki ropes shot out together in a whirlwind and seized Jhainer, Manzin, and Cui each by the throat, lifting them each up effortlessly and flinging all three back into the dark, cold water almost one hundred feet away. Vegeta spent some time attempting to replicate the display, to no avail.

They ended the day with spars. By this point, they were all exhausted. Even Manzin had reached the limits of what his body could protect him from, and was now visibly shaking. Vegeta had lost the ability to focus on even the simplest of tasks. Cui's breaths were coming out in short gasps, his teeth chattering together. Jhainer could barely stand, his wounds from Zarbon and Manzin growing worse as time went on. The spars were extremely slow-paced even as Dodoria yelled at them all to move faster. But they couldn't. Finally, when Jhainer and Manzin both needed more than fifteen seconds to get back up after hitting each other at the same time during a spar, Dodoria had seen enough.

"Alright, you're all done!" Dodoria finally screamed. "Every damn one of you is an embarrassment, not being able to handle a little cold weather! You'll be lucky if I don't tell Lord Frieza to disband the rank qualifying squad this solar cycle, because not one of you deserves to be a ranked man. You all show up here tomorrow at 070X for training, and don't be late. Dismissed."

Vegeta sank to his knees in relief. Tomorrow he would be ashamed that he didn't last longer. But today, he just wanted to get the hell out of there. His room at Frieza's base wasn't fancy, but it was warm, and right now it sounded like pure heaven. Raditz and Nappa were next to him shortly afterwards, Raditz holding his gloves, boots, and armor. The prince didn't resist as they helped him up to his feet, nor did he resist their hands on his own, trying to warm his fingers which were dark blue at the tips. Though they were nowhere near as bad as his feet.

"We'll get you into a regen tank, and that'll take care of everything. Zarbon said they'd be up tonight, so it should be alright," Nappa informed him.

Vegeta nodded, not processing any of that. He got the gist when they took to the air and he mindlessly followed Raditz while Nappa followed him. Somewhere along the way though, his sight started fading. The last thing he remembered before passing out was Nappa slinging him onto his back and feeling the older Saiyan raise his ki to warm him.

When the prince roused later that night, he was laying down on a table inside the medical room, covered in a coarse gray blanket and dressed in a dry, warm uniform. The regeneration tanks were in the adjacent room, but this room was used for preliminary work, to take care of immediate health concerns if the tanks were all taken. Vegeta frowned and tossed aside the blanket, before sluggishly sitting up. His pants were pushed up to his knees, letting him examine his toes along with his fingers. They weren't that sick shade of blue anymore, being now covered with a healing lotion that had apparently done the trick. His foot still looked terrible though. Apparently there was no lotion for that.

Vegeta looked up when the door leading to the regeneration tanks opened, and raised an eyebrow when he saw Jhainer emerge. The Trikan boy had a thick bandage around his side, and the lashes from Zarbon on his back were covered in a healing gel. His blue tail was lashing with anger as he set his sights on Vegeta.

"We're not being healed tonight," Jhainer bluntly told him. Even though he had no pupil, Vegeta still saw the rage in the white of his eye. "Might as well just go back to our rooms until our next assignment, or until training tomorrow, because staying here is pointless."

"We'll see about that," Vegeta growled, forcing himself up on his feet. He limped over, shoving Jhainer out of his way. "They're supposed to let us heal after these trainings. I'm not going in tomorrow with a damn broken foot-"

"Vegeta…" Jhainer warned in his soft voice. He just looked away and sighed as the prince barged on in anyways.

Vegeta froze at the sight that greeted him. There were eight regeneration tanks there, and they were all filled with fluid and different soldiers. But instead of the blue healing fluid, they were submerged in a green fluid. Confused, the young prince frowned, and ignored his instinct to turn away as he limped over to the closest pod for a better look.

He flinched back when the man inside jerked upon his approach. A hand shot out in Vegeta's direction, and the prince immediately hobbled out of range of a potential ki blast, but nothing ever came. Limping closer again, Vegeta suddenly felt sick as he noticed what was really happening.

The man wasn't being healed. He was being disintegrated alive with acid, with most of his skin already dissolved. Desperate eyes locked onto his, as though pleading for help. Vegeta had seen horrible, violent things in his life, but he had never seen anything like this. Swallowing heavily, the prince scanned over the other tanks, and saw that they, too, were all being slowly dissolved to death. They must have been lied to, told they were going to be healed. It was cowardly, even by his standards.

His stomach churned with overwhelming nausea as he looked back at the first man, who was still conscious, even though some bones were now showing. They must have been given stiff paralyzers through their masks to prevent much movement. The young Saiyan made eye contact with him and saw a look of hopelessness and agony that would haunt him for years in his sleep.

He shook his head and turned away, only to bump right into Zarbon.

"You're not supposed to be in here. Did you need something, monkey prince?" Zarbon smoothly asked. Vegeta quickly shook his head. No way in hell was he getting into a tank anytime soon; dealing with his broken foot and his other wounds was suddenly not a problem. Zarbon's eyes narrowed as he looked over at the tanks.

"These men are the last of the ones who scored under 40 percent this morning. They were all highly suicidal. We are just giving them what they wanted," he casually explained. He patted Vegeta on the shoulder, making the young Saiyan flinch in disgust at the contact. "I'm quite pleased I ran into you though, Vegeta. Dodoria tells me you're due a thrashing for being late and mouthing off today. You know where to go, so meet me there in ten."

Vegeta nodded, and then watched as Zarbon left. He glanced back at the tanks, grimacing as they started getting more and more bloodied. He felt sick again, and so he half-shuffled, half-limped out of there as fast as he could manage.

Jhainer was still there by the door when Vegeta emerged, leaning against the wall. "The medical worker told me to wait until the tanks were freed, and that it would probably be a long wait," he explained. "After he left, I went in to see why there was such a long wait. I tried to get them out, but…"

Jhainer shrugged, and looked away. Vegeta had been staring down at the floor, listening. There was a tense silence for a moment as each teenager contemplated the grim situation in the next room, how easily it could have been them in there. Finally, Vegeta looked back up, and they both made eye contact.

"Manzin got you too?" he asked, eager to stop thinking about it.

"Yes. The coward," Jhainer muttered softly, frowning. "I never saw him coming."

"Listen…regarding your earlier offer…" Vegeta awkwardly started. He looked away and cleared his throat. "Perhaps having an ally wouldn't be the worst decision I could make."

Jhainer smirked. "You could definitely make worse decisions, Saiyan."

"It's null and void if we're in direct competition though, just so we're clear."

"Fine by me."

"Fine." Vegeta nodded, and then glanced back at the door. "You going to wait until they're…done…using the tanks?"

"I'm not sure yet. Are you?"

"No." The prince kept to himself the fact that he didn't trust someone not to give him the same fate as those in the next room. "It seems it's my turn for a thrashing."

"Perhaps if you didn't mouth off so frequently, you wouldn't get them so often."

Vegeta chuckled, and then began to limp away. "Mouthing off is the only fun I get to have, Trikan."

Jhainer snorted and shook his head, muttering under his breath in his native tongue about how insane the other boy was. Vegeta paid him no mind as he slowly hobbled out to go take his punishment from Zarbon.

All the while, he hoped that this alliance with Jhainer didn't turn out to be a mistake.


	5. Striking back

Raditz and Nappa were both standing next to each other, gazing down at the teenager laying in front of them. Vegeta was passed out on his cot, and he looked worse for wear. His face was pale, and the skin on his back was badly ripped open from his session with Zarbon, with parts of his back blistering from a fire whip. Even though Nappa and Raditz used their spare uniforms to absorb the bleeding like they always did, their efforts were in vain. The prince would only heal if he did nothing but rest, or if he got into a tank. Neither option was possible at the moment.

Raditz finally looked towards Nappa. "Well, I did it last time. It's your turn now."

Nappa snorted. "Are you nuts? I don't think so. You do it."

"And have Vegeta kill me?" Raditz scoffed. "No way, bald man. I did it last time, and I'm not doing it again."

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you. Do it, or I'll kill you myself, third class!" Nappa growled threateningly.

He and Raditz stared each other down for a few seconds, before Raditz looked back down at Vegeta, scowling as he did. Oh, how he hated being the weakest one in the group. Grumbling under his breath, he bent over and reached down to shake the teenager's shoulder.

"Vegeta," he called out in a loud voice. The prince didn't stir, and so Raditz shook his shoulder with more force. "Hey, you have to get up, unless you want to be late again."

Vegeta exhaled deeply, and then moved just enough to turn his head away from them. Raditz and Nappa exchanged a look. On one hand, they both sympathized with their prince. Vegeta was at a critical age for Saiyan males, and he needed far more nourishment and rest than he was getting. But on the other hand, if they let him be late, then not only would Vegeta get punished again, but they both would suffer too at the hands of the irate prince.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Nappa pressed, staring at his fellow Saiyan expectantly. Raditz inwardly groaned as he looked back down at Vegeta. He grit his teeth, and prayed to whoever might've been listening that Vegeta didn't kill him for this.

Before he could lose his nerve, Raditz reached down and seized Vegeta's limp tail, rapidly wrapped it a few times around his fist, and then yanked it hard.

Vegeta's eyes immediately flew open as he shot up to his feet. With no hesitation, the prince spun around and slammed his fist as hard as he could into Raditz' stomach before he even processed what had happened. Raditz doubled over and dropped to his knees, coughing and gasping for air as he clutched his stomach. It only took a couple of seconds for Vegeta to put two and two together while he wrapped his tail snugly around his waist. Raditz tried in vain to defend himself, but he couldn't stop Vegeta from delivering a vicious kick to his face with the heel of his good foot, shattering both his nose and scouter on impact.

"Try that again, and I guarantee that it'll be the last thing you ever fucking do," Vegeta venomously snarled.

"I told the weakling not to wake you that way," Nappa snorted. Laid out on the floor now and struggling to breathe, Raditz shot him a glare of pure hatred. Nappa just chuckled and then turned his attention back to the youngest Saiyan in the room. "Dodoria came by not too long ago. Said Frieza wants you as soon as you could get dressed and get over there."

Vegeta frowned as he turned away from Raditz who was slowly pulling himself up. The prince reached behind him and gingerly touched one of the deep, ripped cuts in his back. He pulled his hand back and saw fresh blood staining his fingers. He was no stranger to these kinds of injuries, but usually, he was allowed to recover in a tank afterwards. After his punishment though, Zarbon had informed him that it would take some time to disinfect the regeneration tanks, and that Frieza had yet to decide if he just wanted to toss them out and order new ones to be built. Looking down at his broken foot, which was swollen worse than the night before, Vegeta knew he had his work cut out for him if he couldn't heal soon.

"What time is it?" he demanded, limping over to his gear to get ready.

"060X. Enough time for you to meet with Frieza and get to training on time," Nappa answered, going over to Raditz. With one hand, he easily raised the other Saiyan back up to his feet.

Vegeta got dressed quickly, even though with every movement, it felt like his back was being set on fire. It was especially bad when he covered his skin with the spandex of his uniform top. Ignoring the pain as much as he could, he turned back around to his comrades, making a disconnect motion with his hand. Nappa obediently turned off his scouter while Raditz reset his broken nose.

"While I go meet with Frieza, I want you both to get a full scouting report on galaxy #23 in the north sector," Vegeta ordered while he tugged on his gloves. "Just tell the technician that it's for a purging assignment. The fool won't question it. He'll give you everything, but I only want to know about Planet Trika."

"…Jhainer's home planet?" Nappa questioned, frowning in confusion. "You thinking of purging it, Vegeta?"

"No, nothing like that. Jhainer and I have an alliance now, and so I want to know more about his background. We'll start by investigating his planet," Vegeta explained while he leaned up against the wall to put his boot on over his wounded foot. After a few failed attempts to do it gently, the prince finally just yanked the boot on, forcing his foot to accommodate itself. He grit his teeth hard as a wave of pain rushed up his entire leg. Unable to stand it, he burned through the instep of his boot with his ki to give his foot some breathing room.

"We'll go take care of that then, won't we?" Nappa said, eyeing the third Saiyan in the room. Raditz just grunted his agreement, brushing the blood off his face. It wasn't like he had much of a choice.

"Good." Vegeta slipped on his scouter, and then limped towards the door. "Did Dodoria say what Frieza wanted me for?"

"Nope. Didn't seem to be in a real rush though. He probably wouldn't mind if you were late to training again," Nappa bitterly remarked as he and Raditz followed the prince out of their quarters.

"Hn," Vegeta grunted his agreement, looking over his shoulder. "Go and get that done. I want that information as soon as possible."

Nappa nodded, and then he walked off to the right with Raditz trailing him, while Vegeta headed off to the left. The prince was doing his usual walking motion, though he was subtly levitating a few centimeters whenever he put his broken foot forward. To anyone not paying close attention, his walk passed as normal, which was the only thing that mattered at the moment. Here in the open, it was important not to show any weakness.

Still, the young Saiyan couldn't help the cold sweat breaking out over his entire body as he headed to Frieza's office. His back and his foot were hurting badly, and he still felt a bit out of sorts from his first training session with Dodoria. All he wanted to do was lie down and sleep. Unfortunately, his day was only getting started.

Meanwhile, in one of the gathering rooms attached to Frieza's office, the tyrant was casually seated at the head of a long, holographic table while overseeing a political meeting. Both sides of the table were filled with different aliens, all of them looking grim and uncomfortable. There was a glass of alien drink neatly in place before each alien, but no one except Frieza had touched his glass.

Finally, a hunched over white furred beast of an alien with one enormous blood red eye taking up most of his face dared break the silence. His voice was rough with apprehension. "You said you could give us control of our planet back…but you have yet to say what you want in exchange."

Frieza chuckled, and casually leaned forward in his levitating seat.

"Well, since you've asked so politely, dear Truben, I'll tell you. It's simple: I want your allegiance. You see, your planet Pilaz has things of great value to me. The best technology on this side of the galaxy. Some impressive, talented young fighters. A prime location for restocking, being at the corner of several different galaxies. I assume that with your allegiance, I will receive the rest of these wonderful resources whenever I request them. In exchange, I will have my men annihilate the enemies that have taken over and enslaved your planet, and I guarantee to always provide protection in case of a similar event in the future."

"And if we say no?" a smaller alien sitting across from Truben challenged. This alien was smaller than Frieza, but he was undoubtedly much older. Like Truben, he only had one large red eye on his face, but there were sharp black spikes on top of his head, standing out on his white fur.

Everyone looked at him in shock over his daring question, with Truben offering a withering glare before turning back to the tyrant. "Apologies for Felsin, Lord Frieza. He's an old man-"

"Oh, there is no need for apologies," Frieza casually dismissed with a wave of his hand, before reaching up to his scouter. "Felsin's concerns are legitimate, and I'm sure that he's not the only one with such thoughts. Such concerns deserve a response…" His transmission was picked up over the scouter. "Zarbon?"

Zarbon's voice immediately came through. "Yes, Lord Frieza?"

"Has the boy arrived yet?"

"Yes. He is waiting for you."

"Wonderful. Send him in."

"Right away."

Five seconds later, Vegeta slowly entered the gathering room. Aside from his badly ripped lower lip which hadn't healed, and the sweat shining on his face and neck, the prince didn't look to be in any physical discomfort. He levitated just enough to appear to be walking, and came to a stop a safe distance away.

"My lord, you summoned me," Vegeta grumbled, bowing his head in feigned respect and missing the shocked looks on the faces of the aliens around the table.

"Walk closer, right over here. I want our guests to see you." Frieza observed the Saiyan's movements, and then gave a few tsk's. "I said _walk, _not levitate, stupid monkey."

Vegeta clenched his jaw shut as he finally walked, unable to hide his bad, painful limp. He came up next to Frieza's right side, and finally turned to face the other aliens in the room. The young prince frowned when he saw the way they were staring back at him. There was recognition, fear, and…remorse? Pity? His lip twitched as his eyes darkened with hatred.

"Gentlemen," Frieza brightly said, reaching around Vegeta to grasp the teenager's shoulder, like a father about to present his favorite son. "Allow me to introduce you to one of my youngest, and one of my finest. This boy's name is Vegeta, and I have raised him like he was my own son. He is the last surviving prince of the powerful Saiyan race, and is currently a preliminary ranked man in my Galactic Army. If he is successful in the coming lunar cycles, he will be a fully ranked man."

Glances were exchanged at the table, before all eyes went over to the prince being presented. Vegeta felt uncomfortable with all the attention, not sure what he was even doing there. His best guess was that he was going to be ordered to slaughter everyone in the room. If that was the case, he'd rather just get on with it.

"Tell them what happened to your planet, Vegeta," Frieza ordered, earning a wary look from the teenaged prince. The tyrant just smiled at him in encouragement. "Go on, boy. Share your story. It's quite riveting."

Vegeta felt more uncomfortable than ever as he looked forward. Some of the looks on the faces of the men staring back at him conveyed that they already knew the truth. His eyes settled on the far wall as he mumbled, "My home planet was destroyed by a meteor, almost ten full solar cycles ago by the Cold calendar. Only three of us survived."

"How tragic! A meteor destroying the entire planet of one of the most powerful warrior races the universe has ever seen! Have any of you ever heard of such a thing?" Frieza questioned in feigned bewilderment. He squeezed Vegeta's shoulder with so much strength, the armor started to deform as pain flashed over the young prince's face. The tyrant barely noticed while he made eye contact with everyone seated in front of him, the threat clear in his eyes. "Heaven only knows what planet a meteor might strike next…"

"Alright," the older alien named Felsin quietly relented. Frieza's grip on Vegeta relaxed, and the prince was relieved. And suspicious. He scowled as he looked at the tyrant out of the corner of his eye while Felsin continued, "We accept your deal and pledge our allegiance."

"Outstanding. We have a deal then," Frieza responded with a grin. Vegeta tried to leave, but Frieza's grip tightened on his shoulder again. "Please meet with Zarbon on your way out. He will handle the logistics. Thank you all for coming, and I look forward to a profitable relationship for many solar cycles to come."

The young Saiyan waited until most of the aliens had left, before he finally spoke again. "If that's all, Lord Frieza, may I leave? I'd rather not be late again to training."

"Goodness, always in a rush. Can't I even have a moment to check in with you to see how my favorite monkey prince is doing?" Frieza kindly asked, releasing his grip on the prince to reach for his drink. His levitating seat turned slightly so he was facing the teenager with him. "Now then. Dodoria tells me that Manzin is already ahead in the competitions, earning the first point. I had a feeling you would fail in this, Vegeta, since that's all you know how to do. But I'm surprised to see that you're failing so early in the process."

Vegeta bit his tongue hard enough to draw blood, lest he say something he would regret. With a look that could have killed, he evenly replied, "We have barely gotten started. I haven't failed until another is given rank."

"Perhaps, but Manzin is stronger than you, am I correct?"

The prince growled. "He's barely-"

"Yes or no," Frieza cut in. Vegeta fell into a bitter silence, his face reddening with growing anger and resentment. The tyrant chuckled and took another sip of his drink. "Yes, that's what I thought. You see, my pet, strength means everything. Without my strength, you wouldn't obey me. Without _your _strength, your men wouldn't obey you. Do you agree?"

"My men obey me because I am their prince-"

"Oh, come now, Vegeta. I know that you're still a boy, but don't be so _naïve_. They obey you because of your superior strength, and because you would kill them if they didn't. Don't mistake self-preservation for loyalty." Vegeta looked away, frowning in thought. Try as he could to hide it, it was obvious the thought had crossed his mind before. Frieza smiled and continued, "Now, Manzin is older than you, has more experience than you, and is stronger than you. By allowing him to draw the first point, you have placed yourself at a disadvantage."

"It's nothing I cannot overcome," Vegeta asserted with full confidence.

"We shall see about that, Vegeta. Now, since both of your monkey parents are very dead, there is no one else in your life to give you quality advice and guidance for what lies ahead…except for me. I don't usually do this, but because you're like a son to me, I will gladly give that advice to you," Frieza informed him, pausing to receive a sign of gratitude.

The prince lowered his head, even as the fur on his tail bristled with his rising rage. "I would appreciate that very much, Lord Frieza," he finally got out through clenched teeth.

Satisfied, Frieza continued. "Only the strongest get through the training and competitions in the rank qualifying squad, and I don't mean who is strongest physically. I'll have you know, boy, that the winner is not always the man with the highest power level. But it's _always_ the man who is the smartest, who seizes opportunity and creates his own where none exists. It's the man who is willing to chain another underwater and let him drown just to gain the first point."

Vegeta's head snapped up in surprise. "You know about that?"

Frieza smirked. "Silly monkey, I know _everything_ that goes on here. Especially with this current rank qualifying squad being so young overall, I am quite intrigued in how this will unfold."

"It was a dirty move on Manzin's part yesterday," Vegeta snarled. "He almost fucking killed me!"

"Temper, _temper_," Frieza laughed. "This is what I'm talking about, boy. Open your eyes and look at the big picture. Manzin's maneuver was brilliant, and that's the type of man who will rise up quickly in the ranks. The question now is, what are you going to do about it, hmm? Don't answer that right now. Think about it."

The young prince nodded, and grumbled out, "Yes, Lord Frieza."

"Now go tend to your business," Frieza ordered. "I'll be looking forward to hearing about your progress. Dismissed."

Vegeta bowed in respect, and then turned around, limping out of there with a disgusted look on his face. He would have preferred beatings over the times when Frieza just wanted to have little "chats" with him. But, as much as he hated to admit it, he knew that Frieza was right. He was definitely going to need to use his smarts if he wanted to earn his rank. The tyrant was many things, but unintelligent was not one of them. Slowly, his anger began to die down, and he started thinking of how best to approach today's training. Reaching up to his scouter, Vegeta checked the time, and then smirked when he realized how much time he still had left until training.

A short time later, the prince was banging on a metallic door down a long corridor. A few seconds later, the door slid open, with a tired looking Jhainer appearing before him. The young Trikan had clearly been asleep, wearing only his uniform pants and his scouter, and looking half-awake.

"What is it, Saiyan?" Jhainer asked while he checked the time on his scouter. He looked less than pleased at the result that beeped back. "Training doesn't start for a bit yet."

"I know," Vegeta gruffly replied, stalking on inside even though he was never invited in. He surveyed the room, which was just like his, except one third the size. His dark eyes settled on some remnants of Trikan blood on Jhainer's cot and on the floor. "How's that gash Manzin gave you?"

Jhainer's blue tail whipped behind him a bit in suspicion. This was the first time the Saiyan had sought him out like this, and though they were technically in an alliance now, Vegeta wasn't the only one who had a hard time trusting others. The Trikan's white eye drifted down to Vegeta's white boots. "I don't know. How's the broken foot?"

"Hn," Vegeta grunted. "I'm fine."

"As am I."

The prince slowly turned back around to face him. "I'm sure Manzin is feeling better than fine though."

"Yes, I'm sure he is," Jhainer agreed, looking at the other teenager with curiosity as to where this was going.

"He's already the strongest one out of all of us, and with him being 100 percent? Well, I don't think that's very fair, especially since he's the reason my foot is broken and you have that injury to your side. Do _you_ think that's fair, Jhainer?"

A slow smirk spread over the older boy's face as realization dawned on him. "No. It's not fair at all, actually."

"I think we should do something about it," Vegeta proposed, smirking back.

"What did you have in mind?"

"Trikan, I thought you'd never ask…"

* * *

><p>Despite what Vegeta thought, Manzin wasn't quite at 100 percent. His older brother Ajox had kept him awake a good portion of the night, giving him strategy after strategy after strategy for approaching the next few days. Instead of going to sleep after his brother was done, Manzin had then gone and paid a visit to Aradeen. Some violence ensued over her interaction with the youngest Saiyan, and there were deep scratches with dried blood on Manzin's face and neck from her attempts to defend herself while he beat her down. But he had gotten his message across to her loud and clear, and was certain that she would never look in Vegeta's direction again. Now he was trying to catch up on much-needed sleep in his private quarters before reporting for the day's training.<p>

Jhainer suddenly appeared out of nowhere in Manzin's room, clutching his teleportation device tightly in his right hand. The Trikan scanned over the room that Manzin shared with Ajox, but only Manzin was there, laid out on his cot and snoring loudly.

That didn't last long though.

Manzin was jarred awake by a well-delivered, violent kick from Jhainer right to his temple. The older boy toppled right off his cot, landing hard on the floor. He sat up in a daze, not sure what was going on until his eyes settled on Jhainer. The young Trikan flashed him a cocky look, and then took off running out of the room. Manzin growled and leapt up to his feet in a flash, tearing off after him. In his haste, he completely missed the young Saiyan leaning up against the wall next to the entrance to his room.

Right as the metallic door was about to slide shut after Manzin, Vegeta wedged his good foot in to keep the door open. For protection purposes, no one except for Frieza himself, Dodoria, and Zarbon could enter another man's private quarters. Everything was hand scanner access only, lest everyone kill each other off in their sleep. That was the main reason for bringing Jhainer into this, otherwise Vegeta would've taken care of everything on his own.

The prince walked into Manzin's room now, and he instantly headed to the corner, where Manzin's silver armor set with the attached black cape was residing. He lifted it up, tossing it up and down a couple of times. Not too far away was the device Manzin had retrieved the day before. It would be mandatory to bring it along to training today. A smirk spread over the young prince's face as he snatched up the handle to Manzin's invisibility cloak, and then he limped back out, taking everything with him.

Vegeta finally entered his own quarters, where Nappa and Raditz were now waiting for him. Both Saiyans stood up when he came in, and then looked at him in confusion when they saw what he was carrying. They all made sure the communications on their scouters were all turned off, and then Vegeta dropped everything on the floor.

"Destroy it," the prince roughly ordered. Raditz and Nappa didn't hesitate, both of them raising a glowing palm towards the floor. They both fired at the same time, and by the time the smoke cleared, the device handle was disintegrated, and so was the black cape. But the armor remained, even though it looked charred now. Vegeta snorted mockingly. "Weaklings."

"That's a pretty tough armor set," Nappa commented, looking back towards his prince. "Whose is it, anyways?"

"Don't worry about it. Just get rid of it before training's done for the day. And don't leave this room until you're done."

Nappa grinned, nodding in understanding while Raditz raised a black, square electronic handheld device, waving it a little bit. "Got that intel you requested on Trika. Everything you could ask for-"

"I'll look at it later tonight. Put that shit away, _right now_," Vegeta hissed. Raditz looked at him in confusion, but before he could respond, Jhainer suddenly appeared out of nowhere next to Vegeta.

"Lost him," Jhainer softly announced, his white gaze lowering to the silver armor set on the floor. He never noticed Raditz turning around to put the black electronic device on the other side of his own cot, safely out of sight.

"How the hell did you do that?" Vegeta asked, raising an eyebrow. "Manzin's faster than you on his worst day and your best day."

"This teleportation thing has come in handy, Saiyan. Ready to go?"

The prince scoffed, going over to pick up his own weapon handle for his ki enhancer. "Can you even teleport two people with that toy you have?"

"Only one way to find out," Jhainer reasoned with a challenging smirk. "Unless you're too afraid to try, of course."

Vegeta glared at him, and then limped over to stand right in front of him. "Manzin won't be able to touch us if we're within eyesight of Dodoria. So let's just get on with it, before we're late," he ordered. Jhainer just chuckled, and then reached out to put one blue, scaly hand on Vegeta's shoulder. Then they were gone.

"You think this is smart?" Raditz asked when he was alone with Nappa again. "Ajox is a rank 3 man. He's got a lot of connections if this goes badly for Manzin."

"Vegeta knows what he's doing. He always has a plan," Nappa reasoned aloud, squatting down to pick up the silver set of armor. He inspected it carefully while adding, "Given that Vegeta and Jhainer are working together, it'd be best if you memorized all that information on that device, then destroyed it."

"Do you know how long that damn report on Trika is?" Raditz sneered. "I'm not memorizing all that shit."

"If Jhainer gets wind of this, it means bad things for all of us. So you better shut your mouth and get to work."

Raditz grumbled some curses in his native tongue, but then sat down to do as he was ordered.

Meanwhile, Jhainer and Vegeta both teleported into a downstairs information room, which was where Dodoria was already waiting for them. The prince in particular looked relieved that they weren't at the cold south end of the planet this time. Cui was already there, arms crossed over his silver armor while he inspected a huge digital display, one of many that was available in the large, cool room. Dodoria was sitting down several feet away from him, also watching the digital screens while he snacked on a large piece of red alien fruit. The red juices were running down his chin and staining his armor, much to Vegeta's disgust.

"What about Cui? We didn't handle him," Jhainer whispered to the prince next to him. Vegeta shook his head.

"Not a threat like Manzin," he whispered back. "Not worth the risk."

Jhainer nodded right as Manzin burst in through the large doors leading into the room. There wasn't even enough time for everyone to glance in his direction, before Manzin flew in and tackled Vegeta hard to the floor. The Saiyan winced in pain as he felt his broken ankle tweak badly on impact, and it felt like a burst of flames erupted on his back, but he did nothing to fight back as Manzin quickly mounted him and pinned him down.

"I know that it was _you_ behind that, you worthless piece of shit Saiyan!" Manzin snarled with incredible hatred, pulling one hand back and curling it into a fist. Jhainer quickly moved in and grabbed him around his midsection, violently throwing him off Vegeta before he could bring his fist down. Manzin immediately scrambled back up to his feet, when he was struck hard enough in the face to shatter bones. He fell backwards, stunned with blood running down his face while he stared up at Dodoria.

"Now I don't know what's got you so pissed off, boy, but I'll tell you what's got _me _pissed off," Dodoria growled down at Manzin. He took a juicy bite of his fruit from one hand, raising the other hand up and showing three fingers. "Three things. One, you're the last to arrive, which means you're late. Two, you just broke one of the main rules of the rank qualifying squad: you do not attack each other outside of trainings and competitions. Not only did you break it, but you had the balls to do it right in front of me-"

Manzin desperately cut in, "But, Jhainer snuck into my-"

He was cut off when Dodoria fired a powerful orange ki blast right into his face, making him cry out in pain as he writhed on the floor, in agony from the burns. Behind Dodoria, Cui was cringing while he watched. Vegeta was standing again, putting all his weight on one leg. He and Jhainer looked more than pleased, each of them wearing satisfied smirks. Both teenagers exchanged a brief, mischievous look, and their smirks only grew.

"But you know what pisses me off the most?" Dodoria continued, unaware of Vegeta and Jhainer's reactions behind him. "You're here, showing up to MY training, without the proper armor. Members of the squad wear the silver armor set with the black cape so others know not to touch them. Where the hell is your damn armor, boy?"

Manzin looked down, squinting at the armor he was wearing. It was his usual black set, the only thing he could get his hands on. He knew for a fact that Vegeta or Jhainer had stolen his squad armor, but he had no proof.

"Well? WHERE IS YOUR ARMOR?" Dodoria screamed down at him, making Manzin flinch. Behind him, Jhainer and Vegeta were both on the verge of laughter and trying to keep it contained.

"I don't know, sir. I…I think it was stolen," Manzin quietly admitted, his eyes purple with fear. "And I think Vegeta might be respon-"

"No, YOU are responsible for your own goddamned gear! Now that's three mistakes, so that's three times the normal thrashing with Zarbon. And because a new set of armor has to be customized just for you, since you _lost _your damn set, we'll make it four times with Zarbon. And to make sure it doesn't happen again, I'll make a request that he use electricity and not fire. Now get the fuck out of my sight, boy. Don't come back here until you're dressed in the proper uniform."

Manzin visibly paled at the thought of getting four times the usual with the electric whip. If Vegeta had given a damn about him, he might have felt bad. He had only gotten two times the usual with the fire whip the night before, and it was still painful to stand. Four times with the far worse electric whip would've tested the Saiyan's pain threshold to the limit. And he was actually _used to_ getting those thrashings. Manzin, however, was not used to such severe punishment, mostly because he was shielded by his older brother Ajox at every opportunity. Vegeta guessed Manzin would be a bloody and unconscious mess before the first round was even done. The thought alone practically made his day.

Manzin stood up and made eye contact with Jhainer, and then with Vegeta. Both of them gave him a look of smug satisfaction. Manzin glared at them, his eyes black with deadly hatred. He then turned around and headed out to go see Zarbon, his head down and his shoulders tense over what awaited him.

When Dodoria turned back around to face them after Manzin had left, Vegeta and Jhainer both looked gruff and indifferent again. The lieutenant scowled and went over to get right into the Saiyan's face.

"You have anything to do with that?" he demanded.

Vegeta scoffed. "No. I have no idea what that fool was rambling about."

"Uh huh," Dodoria mumbled disbelievingly, eyeing the Saiyan prince down. "You better watch it, monkey boy. I got my eye on you."

"I'm flattered, Dodoria, but I'm only attracted to females," Vegeta responded with a smirk.

Dodoria growled and seized the prince by the jaw, his grip so painfully tight that Vegeta felt like his jaw was about to fracture. "Watch that smart mouth, Saiyan, or I'll have you get twice what Manzin gets. If I find out that you had anything to do with his misplaced armor, I'll report this entire incident to Frieza. Got it?" he demanded, tightening his grip just a bit more. Vegeta nodded as much as he could, and then Dodoria shoved his face away as he let him go.

"Alright then, kids, let's begin," Dodoria announced. He walked away from them towards a large set of black digital screens. "One skill we want each of you to develop over the course of your training is leadership. It's a trait that's not born overnight, so we should begin now." He pressed his finger to one of the screens, and a flurry of galaxies and stars flew past, until the screen zoomed in on one set of planets. There were blinking red and blue lights scattered over the different planets, and Vegeta immediately remembered the display that Zarbon had been analyzing.

"This is a depiction of Galaxy #66 in the west sector. Every few solar cycles, they have a galaxy wide youth fighting tournament geared towards kids, all of them younger than you. These blue lights you see blinking here are all young fighters with power levels at 1,500 or higher. We expect that each kid with a blue light will participate in the interplanetary tournament. Your next task is to attend this tournament, scout the fighters, and bring back one of them as a new recruit for Frieza's ranks. Per Zarbon's orders, you are to purge that fighter's home planet in the process. In due time, we will have our own little tournament where all of your fighters will battle to the death. The fighter that remains standing at the end will gain full entry to the Galactic Army, and whoever recruited him will gain a point."

"Is this the recruiting Lord Frieza mentioned?" Jhainer questioned.

"Yes. This information is straight from Zarbon. Everyone is starting to recruit, but _your _recruits are the only ones who will battle to the death. It's to see which of you will step up and be the best leader, training your recruit properly and readying him for life or death battle. Good practice for you," Dodoria chuckled, taking a bite into his fruit.

"When the hell are we supposed to find the time to train a kid?" Vegeta demanded.

"Up to you. You don't have to train 'em if you don't want to. But then they'll likely be killed, and someone else will win a point. Your choice. Also, your choice if you want to bring along your two monkey companions with you. Now you all have three days. One day to travel, one day to recruit and purge, and another day to travel back. Best get moving, children. Dismissed."

Jhainer and Vegeta both turned to each other and started whispering about this new task when Cui shimmied up to them. The two teenagers turned and gave him two equally intimidating glares, but Cui was unfazed as he chuckled.

"Hey guys, nice move with Manzin," he said with a grin. "Real nice. Real smart. Bet that was you that thought of it, huh, Ve-"

"What do you want, Cui?" Jhainer cut in, his good eye narrowing in suspicion.

"Well, it seems to me like you both got yourselves a little teamwork thing going, and I think I would be an excellent addition-"

"No," Vegeta roughly interrupted.

"Three on one? We could take out Manzin completely," Cui reasoned. Jhainer and Vegeta exchanged a look, and then both boys turned around and started walking away, with the Saiyan prince awkwardly limping. Cui urgently started trailing them. "Come on, guys. Just think about it."

"Alright," Vegeta agreed, tilting his head a little bit. "Hmm…well, would you look at that? I thought about it and the answer is still no."

"Then maybe I'll side with Manzin and even our odds," Cui threatened. The two teenagers in front of him paused and looked back at him.

"You do that," Jhainer softly said, exposing his razor sharp teeth in warning. "It's the only way you have any chance of winning this anyways."

"I only know one thing. If I don't get my rank, neither will you two," Cui swore, making eye contact with both of them. He then roughly brushed past them, activating his scouter to see where Manzin was. If he was in the middle of getting the thrashing of his life, it would be even better. Cui could approach him afterwards with the idea for an alliance of their own, when Manzin was at his weakest and most vulnerable.

"Not a threat, huh?" Jhainer asked when Cui was out of sight.

"Fuck Cui," Vegeta snarled.

"Unfortunately, I'm only attracted to females too," Jhainer drawled, earning an amused look from the prince next to him. The young Trikan just shook his head at him. "Your smart mouth will be the death of you, Saiyan."

"Maybe, maybe not. So do you even need a space pod anymore with that teleportation toy of yours?"

"Yes. I tried last night to teleport back to my home planet. I couldn't do it," Jhainer admitted. "Either the device is only limited to the planet I'm on, or I haven't figured it out yet."

"Hn," Vegeta grunted, all shreds of amusement disappearing from his face at the thought of Jhainer trying to go back to his home planet. The Trikan clearly still cared about his home planet, which he hadn't stepped foot on since he had been given up to Frieza. The information Raditz had gathered might prove even more deadly than Vegeta anticipated. For some reason though, he was no longer truly interested to hear what Raditz had to say about Trika.

"Well, I'll see you at the tournament," Jhainer added, frowning at the brooding look on the other boy's face. He was answered with a mindless nod, and so he took that as his cue to leave. Vegeta watched him walk away, and then reached up for his scouter.

"What's going on, Vegeta?" Nappa's voice came through a few seconds later.

"Got a recruiting and purging assignment," the prince bluntly informed him. "I'm going to check in on something, and then we'll go, so you and Raditz be ready at the dock."

"Got it."

"How goes the project I left you with?"

"It's been taken care of."

The prince grunted in approval. "Don't be late at the dock."

"We won't."

Vegeta turned off the communications in his scouter, and then slowly headed outside for some fresh air. There was a certain someone he wanted to see before he left…

The prince dropped down in front of the Ozo tavern a few moments later, peeking in through the dirty glass. He didn't see anyone, so he levitated inside, scouring for signs of Aradeen. The place seemed deserted though. Vegeta scowled and activated his scouter, dropping the threshold down as far as it would go. The scouter beeped when it picked up a power level of 20, coming from the back. She must have been cleaning back there, he reasoned as he headed in that direction. The prince went through the back supply room, not letting his feet hit the floor, until he reached the small living quarters at the very back. Vegeta glanced in. It was pitch black in there, but his scouter said she was there. He reached up and turned the scouter off.

"Slave," he roughly growled, hearing some motion in response to his voice. "What the hell are you doing slumbering at this time? Get up and get out here."

"Please, leave me alone, Vegeta."

Vegeta blinked a few times at the way her voice sounded. That wasn't the sensual voice he liked. Something was wrong. He reached around blindly for a light, and then his hand hit a sensor that triggered a dim light in the room. Aradeen was laying down on the floor, wrapped up in some old blankets. She turned away from him, but not before he saw how badly bruised her face was. The prince approached until he was hovering over her.

"Manzin," he said, no doubt in his voice.

"Yes."

"Did he rape you?"

"No."

"Hn," Vegeta grunted, his eyes sweeping over her. He was more irritated by the fact that her beauty was now diminished over the fact that she had been ruthlessly battered by Manzin. Beatings were a fact of life after all, and everyone had to suffer through them, men, women, and children alike. "Must've really pissed him off, female," he snorted.

"It seems that way," she weakly responded, staring at the wall. She had wanted to get some rest before the usual stream of rowdy soldiers started trickling in that night. Nothing seemed to be going according to plan lately though.

Aradeen flinched when Vegeta's fingers settled around her jaw, before he forced them to make eye contact. Even with the dark bruises littering her otherwise flawless skin, the prince still found that she was attractive. Her eyes drew him the most, with that unusual reptilian shade of blue. He ran his thumb under her lower lip, and for the first time, she noticed that he didn't look too great either. His lower lip was horribly ripped open, and the prince was soaked in sweat, as though every motion was an enormous exertion.

"A female as pathetically weak as you taking such a beating…you must be in pain," Vegeta mumbled, his hand slowly moving down to lower her blankets, exposing more and more of her bruised skin. "I could kill Manzin and ensure such a thing never happens again. But I will expect something from you in return for my troubles…what do you say? Will you compensate me as a proper slave should?"

Aradeen tried not to show her terror as the Saiyan leaned down to her throat to inhale her scent, while his hand freely explored her body. She didn't know right now who she was afraid of most: Manzin, with his overwhelming possession and his tendencies to lash out in violence, or Vegeta, with his unnerving interest and the inevitability of where that interest would lead them. Would he kill her right now, if she pushed him away?

"Okay," she relented, making Vegeta look back up at her. Not knowing what else to say in order to avoid dying or being raped right here and right now, she desperately settled on, "Okay, if you take care of Manzin, then I'll…I'll take care of you, but not right now. I wouldn't be able to—to handle you. I need to heal first."

A look of sheer triumph came over Vegeta's face over her acceptance of the inevitable, as his male ego grew to enormous proportions. He chuckled and nodded his agreement.

"Outstanding. We have a deal then," he muttered, unconsciously quoting Frieza verbatim from earlier. Before she could say anything else, the prince crushed his lips down over hers, forcing her mouth open in a bruising and painful kiss that was only pleasurable to him. He ignored the hands on his shoulders trying desperately to push him away, and he soon tasted her blood in his mouth as his brutal move ripped open her bruised and sensitive flesh around her lips from Manzin's blows. He pulled back and smirked at the tears in her eyes as she rubbed her bruised and throbbing face.

"I'm going to leave for a short while to handle business. Manzin will be dead when I return. Would you like me to bring you back his severed head as a gift?" Vegeta casually asked.

Aradeen blinked up at him, wondering if the Saiyan was insane. He surely didn't look like he was joking. She shook her head quickly. "Thank you, but…um…you can keep it."

"I think I might," he replied as he got back up to his feet. "I'll see you in a few days, slave. And do something about those hideous bruises. They lessen your appeal," he gruffly ordered on his way out. Aradeen sighed in relief that he was gone, at least for the moment. She turned away from the doorway, covering herself in her blankets and wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into.

Vegeta was in good spirits as he levitated out of the tavern a few moments later. He reached up to turn his scouter back on, so he could inform Nappa and Raditz that he was on his way. As soon as he did though, his scouter beeped in warning as it detected four power levels close by, all over 15,000.

The prince never had a chance to react before they ambushed him. A group of Frieza's men, each of them pummeling him and striking him hard, moving so fast that he only saw flashes of their armor. His scouter was ripped off him and destroyed, getting rid of the evidence of the beating that was against the rules. Vegeta desperately tried to blast off into the air to try to get some distance, but he was quickly grabbed by the ankle and thrown back to the ground as the beating mercilessly continued. They were all stronger than him, and he could do little to defend himself. One of them specifically targeted his broken foot, slamming their boot down right on his ankle. Vegeta screamed in pain, but that stopped when he was violently forced on his stomach, his own black cape wrapping tightly around his throat. A strong weight settled down on his back, and he felt someone pull back on his cape as he was strangled.

"It was your idea to set my brother up, wasn't it, you son of a bitch," a furious voice snarled from behind him. Manzin's brother, Ajox. Had to be. Vegeta desperately used his ki to slice through the cape, gasping when the pressure on his throat was relieved. His relief was short-lived as Ajox seized him by the hair and slammed him face-first into the rock ground, damn near rendering Vegeta unconscious with the impact. The prince coughed weakly, blood running into his eyes as Ajox kept his face pressed roughly against the ground.

"Your filthy race was responsible for the purging of my home planet, Saiyan. Unlike my brother, I don't hold that against you, since you had nothing to do with it. But hear this, Vegeta. If you _ever_ set Manzin up like that again, I will rip all of your organs out of your body."

The weight off his back was removed, and then one of Ajox's comrades delivered a hard kick to the prince's ribs, forcing him to cough up blood. Vegeta squinted his eyes open, trying to get a good look at who else was with Ajox for retaliation purposes, but his sight was blurred and he couldn't make them out. A moment later, and they all blasted off into the air, heading back to base. The prince weakly glared in their direction, before resting his head back down and closing his eyes as he tried regaining his bearings. But there was only one thing going through his mind.

There was going to be hell to pay for this.


	6. On to the next one

**A/N: Wow, I leave for a spell and the site looks all different when I come back, huh? Well, sorry about the delay, hit a nasty writer's block with my work on this site. As a result I'm a bit rusty with this fic, so I'm sorry if that shows. :P**

**Also, I got a new project going on the side, that's a fanart/fanfic collab called "In Dark Places". It's a Vegeta/Goku-centric AU work, and it'll be a bit dark. I think if you guys like this story so far, you might like that one too. It's linked on my profile page, check it out and see if you like. :)**

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><p>Raditz frowned as he pressed the buttons on his scouter. He was trying to sync up to Vegeta's scouter, but there was no signal, which he assumed meant the prince had turned it off. He looked back towards Nappa, giving a brisk shake of his head. Nappa was standing in front of his space pod, leaning casually back against it with his arms crossed. He scowled, wondering what was taking the prince. Both Saiyans were ready to go, and were just waiting for Vegeta so they could go take care of the next assignment.<p>

Cui and Jhainer were both not too far away from them on the dock, doing rapid, expert checks of their space pods, each teenager trying to launch as soon as possible. Cui had decided to postpone his meeting with Manzin in favor of getting a jump on all three of his competitors, thereby choosing himself over any potential alliance. Jhainer's mentality wasn't much different.

Finally, Jhainer was satisfied and he quickly climbed into his space pod, with the latch door shutting behind him. Cui was only a fraction of a second behind him, scrambling into his own space pod in a desperate attempt to keep up. Nappa and Raditz didn't flinch as both space pods blasted off moments later, barreling up into the sky, followed quickly by two empty space pods that would return full. A few seconds later, and they were all out of sight.

"Vegeta's going to be pissed now," Raditz grumbled to the eldest Saiyan. "And I bet he's gonna blame us for not letting him know that Jhainer and Cui already took off."

"The kid must've lost track of time, I guess," Nappa grumbled back, even though he knew the idea was ridiculous before the words had even left his mouth. The young prince was nothing if not meticulous when it came to details.

"_Prince Vegeta _losing track of the time. Right," Raditz snorted mockingly, rolling his eyes.

"Watch how you use that title, third class," Nappa growled in warning. "Try to see if you can pick up his power and locate him that way."

Raditz scowled but he reached up to his scouter to do as he was told. The lights started running on his scouter while he stared off into the distance, but after a few minutes, he looked back to Nappa and shook his head.

"Nothing that matches his power level."

This time, the two Saiyans fell into a tense silence while they stared uneasily at each other. They both knew for a fact that Vegeta hadn't left the planet, because they were standing right there on the space pod dock. The only way his power level would've dropped was if he'd been beaten in a fight, or if he was dead.

"Let me see," Nappa finally said, reaching up to activate his own scouter. After all, if Raditz' scouter was malfunctioning and they went after Vegeta, they would only delay things further – a consequence that would earn them hell from their prince.

The lights had barely flashed across Nappa's scouter when Zarbon smoothly strolled out of Frieza's base and onto the space pod dock. He was half-dragging, half-pulling a barely conscious Manzin along with him, holding the young alien up on his feet with a strong hand on his brand new silver set of armor with the appropriate black cape to go along with it. When Zarbon got close enough to Manzin's space pod, he roughly threw the boy towards it. Manzin helplessly crashed on the ground facedown in front of his pod, with no strength to get up after the vicious beating that had only mercifully ended moments ago. He gasped for air, eyes squeezed shut in pain, but Zarbon and the Saiyans ignored him.

"Where's your precious monkey prince?" Zarbon asked, glancing over at Vegeta's unoccupied space pod.

Nappa quickly deactivated his scouter, and then lowered his head in a show of respect. "On his way, Zarbon."

Thinking nothing of it, Zarbon gave a mild shrug and then started to head back towards base. If Vegeta wanted to be late, he was only hurting himself and his own chances to earn rank. After all, in the end, it didn't matter to Zarbon which man moved up; they would listen to him and obey his orders regardless.

He was just about to go back inside when Vegeta finally dropped down in front of his men. Zarbon only glanced over in curiosity, but he was shocked at the sight of the youngest Saiyan. Vegeta was visibly roughened up, with nasty dark bruises spreading on his face, and parts of his face busted open and bleeding. The prince was barely able to stand, prompting Raditz to instinctively grab the teenager by the back of his armor to steady him and hold him upright.

"What happened, Vegeta? Who did this to you?" Nappa asked in surprise. Seeing Vegeta this beaten wasn't a rare occurrence; in fact, the prince was usually left in worse condition after meetings with Frieza. But Vegeta was a preliminary ranked man, which meant he had immunity, and they all knew it.

The prince just shook his head. "Never mind that. Let's go," he rasped, favoring his ribs and trying not to be obvious about it.

"You might not have to answer to your low brow monkey friends, Vegeta," Zarbon suddenly cut in, effortlessly shoving Nappa aside to walk right up to the young prince. "But you _will_ answer to me. What happened?"

Vegeta looked confused for a moment as he craned his head back to look up at Zarbon. For a brief moment, the prince wondered if he'd suffered a more serious head injury than he thought, because he could've sworn he heard genuine concern in Zarbon's voice. The lieutenant had never once shown any concern for his well-being, and had delivered worse beatings to him than the one he'd just taken.

Vegeta studied Zarbon's eyes for a few seconds, before scowling as realization set in. Zarbon _was _concerned, but it was for his own skin. Dodoria might have been handling the main training, but Zarbon was the one to ensure that the rules for the rank qualifying squad were followed to the letter. If Frieza caught wind of this, Zarbon would be the one who would pay dearly for allowing Vegeta's immunity to be broken.

The teenaged prince looked down, feeling foolish for thinking even for a second that Zarbon actually gave a damn about him. He knew that no one did. And, deep down, he knew that no one ever would.

When Vegeta lapsed into a bitter and stubborn silence, Zarbon roughly grabbed him by the jaw and forced them to make eye contact again.

"You tell me who is responsible for this, so I can handle the incident appropriately," Zarbon snarled, his patience starting to wear out with the boy standing in front of him.

"I don't know who it was. They attacked before I could see," Vegeta hissed out through his teeth, his dark eyes blazing with defiance. He and Zarbon had a fierce stare down for several tense moments while Raditz and Nappa exchanged worried looks.

"So be it then," Zarbon said as he released his grip. "You'll need a new cape to signify your immunity. You can get one when you return, but you'll receive a thrashing because of the expense and inconvenience."

"What? Why?" Vegeta yelled, his face reddening with growing rage.

"Because, _boy, _your gear is your responsibility. You will learn to take care of the equipment you've been granted."

"But it wasn't even my fault-"

"Let's make that twice the usual punishment," Zarbon smoothly interrupted.

Vegeta snarled, "That's bullshit-!"

"Three times the usual then, with the electric whip. Are you done yet, boy, or shall I continue?"

Vegeta fell into silence, sinking his teeth into his ripped bottom lip and uncaring of the fresh blood running down his chin or the way his whole face throbbed in response. The skin on his back and arms was still pulsing and burning from the last thrashing he'd taken which hadn't yet healed, but that didn't matter. This was the way Zarbon was punishing him for not naming any of his attackers by name; the lieutenant would have jumped on any excuse to deliver another round of punishment for defying him, no matter how minor. The prince refused to name Ajox though, and so he had no choice but to shut his mouth and bite back his rage. He would soon be in a purge anyways, where he could relieve his frustrations the only way he knew how.

"That's what I thought," Zarbon arrogantly said, smirking as he patted Vegeta on the shoulder. "Report back to me as soon as you return with your recruit. Good luck, monkey prince."

Vegeta grunted, and then impatiently shrugged out of Raditz' grip on his armor as Zarbon walked away. The prince looked over towards Manzin's space pod and scowled. Manzin had by now pulled himself up, and was slowly and gingerly easing himself into his space pod. Vegeta looked towards his men and made a quick, silent hand gesture signaling them to get into their own space pods. Nappa and Raditz nodded and did just that while Vegeta angrily limped over to Manzin.

Manzin was slowly taking out his spare blue scouter from a compartment in his pod, when it was slapped right out of his shaking hand. He looked up and growled at the sight of the teenaged Saiyan leaning into his space pod, the fur on his body starting to bristle with his growing rage. To strike Vegeta in such clear view of Frieza's base would have been asking for more hellacious punishment, and he'd had his fill for the day. Still, it was tempting to slam his fist into Vegeta's face and shatter some of his teeth for putting him into a horrible situation in the first place.

"You're dead, Saiyan," Manzin swore, his voice unsteady with intense hatred. "Either as part of his competition or after I win it, you won't live to see the next solar cycle."

Vegeta glared at the older boy as his tail slowly tightened around his waist. Finally, his eyes narrowed. "We'll just see about that. Luckily for you, though, you're not number one on my list anymore, Manzin. Your brother is. But don't worry. As soon as he's dead, you'll get your spot back. I promise."

Manzin blinked a few times, stunned at the threat towards his brother who had a higher power level than he and Vegeta combined. Not only that, but Ajox was one of Frieza's top men. After a few moments though, Manzin relaxed and chuckled, trying not to wince in pain when he did. Now the bruises and bloodied lacerations on Vegeta's face made sense.

"Your arrogance will be your downfall, Vegeta."

"Enough talk. Tell Ajox that I want him to meet me, alone, on a planet of my choosing in the galaxy that's holding the tournament we're scouting. Just the two of us there, and no one else. We'll fight there, and only one of us will leave the planet alive."

Manzin was fairly certain that he was going to pass out as soon as his space pod took off, but for the moment, he was left stunned over Vegeta's words. For a moment, the black hatred of Manzin's eyes eased and there was a hint of orange as wariness took over. He'd always known that the prince was arrogant, but this was on another level. Was he really that cocky to think he could defeat a rank 3 man without anyone else's help?

"What's the matter?" Vegeta growled after growing tired of the prolonged silence. "Are you afraid that your brother is that much of a coward that he won't accept my challenge? Or is he too weak to fight me when I'm actually prepared for him?"

Manzin's eyes flashed to a dark red, which made Vegeta smirk with anticipation. Manzin bared his teeth as his eyes quickly reverted to their black slits of hatred. "If you're that eager to die, Saiyan, then so be it. You just tell me what planet you want Ajox on and he'll be there."

"What's he going to say when he takes his space pod?" Vegeta demanded, wanting to make sure all his angles were covered. "Surely he won't say that he's heading off to his death, will he?"

"You don't want anything traced back to you, do you?"

"If you're so sure that he's going to defeat me in battle, then we wouldn't want Frieza knowing he killed me. He likes your brother, but he likes me more."

"Ajox doesn't have to say anything. He can go wherever he likes, since they can track his space pod regardless. He's a rank 3 man and he's on leave right now. You just tell me where and when you want to die, Saiyan, and I'll pass your death wish along."

Vegeta chuckled, licking some of the blood off his lip. He straightened and patted the top of Manzin's space pod a few times. "Make your peace with your brother while you can, because I'll be laughing in his ashes soon."

Manzin angrily slammed his fist into the button to raise the latch on his space pod hard enough to make it spark with electricity, but Vegeta was already limping back over towards his space pod. The prince was favoring his ribs with his left arm, and he wiped angrily at his eyes to get rid of the blood trickling down into them. Nappa and Raditz were already situated in their pods, just waiting for him. He was still shuffling along when he heard Manzin's space pod blast off behind him, followed quickly by the empty pod for his new recruit.

Vegeta practically collapsed into his own space pod moments later. He just shifted over enough to kick at the button to raise the latch, using his broken foot and uncaring of the pain that fired up his entire leg a moment later.

"_Destination set to: Nioren, Galaxy #66 in the west sector. Awaiting verbal command from Vegeta, soldier rank preliminary, to launch."_

"Launch, damn thing, LAUNCH!" Vegeta screamed, trying his best to rearrange himself so he was sitting upright in his pod.

The initial wave of acceleration slammed into him as his space pod blasted off into flight, and he waited a few seconds for it to pass until he tried again. It took a moment, but finally he was sitting up, out of breath and soaked in sweat. He squinted through the glass portal, but only saw a series of red and blue colors as they passed through the atmosphere of the planet. Vegeta reached into one of the spare compartments overhead with a shaking hand, pulling out a spare, red scouter. He slipped it on and activated it, entering his identification to sync it back up with base.

The young prince finally leaned his head back, staring blankly out of the portal window as the colors faded and then only the darkness of space was visible. Vegeta looked down at himself, swallowing as he did. His foot was in bad shape, straining against his boot, even with the tear in the instep. His back was burning, and he knew for a fact that several of his ribs were broken. None of the injuries were new to him, and he would never outwardly complain about them. He was a warrior. He would endure, just like he always did – but could he endure his injuries in a battle to the death against an older, stronger, more experienced warrior?

Vegeta slowly leaned forward until he was hunched over, both hands sliding up into his upswept hair as he grabbed two tight fistfuls of it and closed his eyes. He _could_ win, but he needed a plan to compensate for his injuries, lest he die on this mission. He was suddenly regretting his impulsive decision to challenge Ajox so soon. In retrospect, he should have waited until he was healed. But the challenge was already issued, and now he was honor-bound to fulfill it, even if it meant his very death.

Death, however, was not an option. He had to survive and grow stronger so he could defeat Frieza and have his vengeance. He accepted the responsibility, though at the moment, alone in the darkness of his space pod, it felt like an enormous and damn near impossible burden on his shoulders. Frieza was still so much more powerful than he was. It would take years, decades even, before he could be strong enough to challenge the tyrant. That meant more years of pain, starvation, and torture he needed to suffer through. Moments like these, the thought alone was daunting.

After around ten minutes, the prince finally lowered his hands and reached down under the seat of his space pod. His fingers hit a small, secret compartment he had added that no one else knew about, not even Raditz or Nappa. He flipped it open and then leaned back as he inspected he'd pulled out, the same way he did before every mission. It was sharp, jagged, and broken, like him, but it still existed – also like him. It was a broken piece of his armor set from when he was a child, the only piece he kept after shattering the armor set, and it had his royal family crest engraved on it.

Vegeta frowned as he stared at the piece of broken armor in his gloved hand for a long time. Finally, he clenched his fist tightly around it, so tight that he felt the jagged edges tearing through his glove and into his skin. Warm blood started pouring between his fingers as he looked back up through the space portal at the stars flashing by.

His vengeance would come one day, but he had a thing or two to take care of first.

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><p>Somewhere along the way, he must've fallen into an exhausted, dreamless sleep. It felt like only minutes had passed when Vegeta's eyes suddenly snapped open and he sat upright in his space pod. Raditz was saying something over the communications, his red scouter was flashing, and there was a bright light outside of the portal window on his pod. The prince squinted, raising one hand up to block out the light as he read the words that were scrolling on his scouter in Galactic Standard.<p>

_Tie-breaking procedures are by power level. 1-Manzin, 2-Vegeta, 3-Cui, 4-Jhainer. When you've reported your recruit, you cannot change your choice, unless someone of higher power level wants your recruit. Report back to base in two days at 110X with your recruit. Confirm receipt of message._

Vegeta instinctively confirmed the message on his scouter, and then hit the button to open up the latch. He winced as light washed inside, keeping one hand up to shield his eyes while he lethargically climbed out to get on with his next task.

"We're clear, there's no one anywhere close to us," Raditz informed him. Vegeta nodded, slowly limping over to where his Saiyan comrades were standing as his vision cleared up.

"What else?" the prince gruffly ordered.

"We're on Planet Nioren, which is close to multiple suns. There is never any nightfall, which is why this planet is always chosen to host the interplanetary tournament. The tournament is very prestigious and the winner is rewarded enough riches to feed everyone on their planet ten times over, as well as galaxy-wide recognition. The tournament's held once every three solar cycles by the Cold calendar. The power conversion on my scouter says each kid needs a power level of at least 1,500 just to qualify."

"So all of these kids are tough enough to end you, Raditz, is that what you're telling us?" Nappa snickered, earning a glare from Raditz.

"We'll see about that," Raditz continued, squaring his shoulders. "None of these fights are ever to the death. These brats are trained in pure martial arts. They're trained to fight with honor. They know nothing about life and death battle."

"They will learn soon enough," Vegeta muttered, raising a hand to his scouter to find the strongest fighters in the tournament. "There will be no riches for the winner this time around."

"Nioren is very scientifically advanced. Frieza often comes here to recruit some of the scientists to be his technicians. There could potentially be military resistance when we try to take a kid."

"How serious a problem?"

"Minor, not serious. Just an annoyance."

"When does the tournament start?"

"We have some time yet."

"Hn," Vegeta grunted, scanning over his body quickly in frustration. It was draining just to remain standing, but the day had barely started. Raditz and Nappa exchanged a look before they looked back at the teenager in front of them. The bruises on his face had worsened, and his left eye was completely bloodshot and twitching rhythmically.

"Vegeta," Raditz quietly started, ignoring Nappa shaking his head at him. "If you want, we can choose the second strongest fighter to come with us and you can stay here. You don't look very-"

His words were immediately cut off with a fast and violent uppercut straight to the chin, sending the Saiyan flying backwards and landing hard on his back. Raditz felt the pain from the blow radiate up his whole face and then shoot down into his neck and shoulders, before it centered in his mouth. He could feel some broken pieces from a tooth or two rattling in his mouth which was now filled with warm blood. His tongue felt like it was on fire.

Raditz barely had the chance to raise his head before Vegeta planted his good foot right into his throat, applying ruthless pressure.

"Don't you EVER insinuate that I am weak," Vegeta snarled, increasing the force as Raditz tried to shove his foot off to no avail. "I do not need either of you weaklings to help me complete my mission. I am fully capable of finding a brat to recruit, purging his planet, AND killing you both on my own. Understand?"

"Yes!" Raditz desperately rasped out. Vegeta scowled, keeping his boot right where it was for five additional seconds that felt like decades to Raditz, before releasing the pressure. He removed his boot, and levitated up a few feet, glaring over at Nappa.

"Let's go," he ordered, and blasted off without further hesitation into a flash of blue light in the sky.

Vegeta kept his eyes straight ahead, flying at full speed and completely indifferent to the fact that Nappa and Raditz had no hope of keeping pace with him at this velocity. He easily placed Jhainer, Cui, and Manzin; between the four of them, they were hands down the most powerful beings on the planet. They had each landed on four opposite ends of the planet.

Vegeta reached up with his scouter to establish a transmission with Jhainer, when the Trikan boy suddenly appeared out of nowhere, teleporting mere inches in front of the prince. Completely caught off guard, Vegeta couldn't slow down in time and he collided with Jhainer, both teenagers barreling together out of the sky until they crashed right into the ground, sand exploding around them on impact.

"Goddamned Trikan," Vegeta hissed a moment later, shoving Jhainer away from him, "Get off me, imbecile!"

"Why don't you watch where the hell you're going, Saiyan?" Jhainer irritably demanded, pulling himself up so he was sitting, his thick blue tail angrily lashing against the ground. He leapt up to his feet moments later with ease before dusting off his silver armor.

"Me?" Vegeta cried out, pulling himself up so he was sitting, his left arm secured against his ribs. He shot the older boy a nasty glare, and was breathless when he yelled, "I'm not the one with the teleportation device, idiot!"

"You're also not paying any damn attention to your surroundings," Jhainer snorted. He paused in thought when he saw the condition Vegeta was in. The Saiyan hadn't looked like _that_ when they parted ways after getting briefed on base. "What happened to _you_?"

"Nothing," Vegeta grumbled, slowly pulling himself up to his feet, leaning all of his weight on his left leg. He cursed under his breath as he wiped off the sand on his armor.

"Right," Jhainer knowingly said, his good eye cold and hard as he frowned. After a moment, the young Trikan slowly squatted down. With one blue, clawed finger, he drew out one word in the sand so no one would overhear on their scouters.

_Ajox?_

Vegeta glared down at the name, then shifted his dark gaze to make eye contact with Jhainer. He was partially inclined to involve the other boy, but to kill one of Frieza's ranked men was a grave offense that could potentially mean his own death at Frieza's hands if word got back to the tyrant. One slip of the tongue from Jhainer, and his life could be over. He knew Manzin would never say a word to Frieza should Ajox die at his hands, because he would want his own retribution. Nappa and Raditz didn't know his plan to challenge Ajox, but they would soon. They also wouldn't say a word. But did he trust Jhainer to that degree? It was a tremendous risk.

Finally, Vegeta roughly kicked at the name, purposely sending sand flying right into Jhainer's face. The prince sneered at Jhainer, exposing his canines in blatant challenge.

The Trikan snarled as he shot up to his feet, and without any further hesitation, he flew right into Vegeta, slamming into his midsection and sending them both crashing back into the sand and right into an impromptu brawl. Both teenagers were struggling to gain the upper hand as they grappled in the sand, each trying to gain leverage, both hitting the other wherever and whenever they could. Finally, Vegeta mounted Jhainer, striking him with a hard punch to the face. Jhainer easily blocked the second punch, hauling Vegeta down and smashing his elbow hard into the Saiyan's nose. Jhainer's tail reached around and hooked into the top of Vegeta's armor, roughly throwing the younger boy right off.

Both scrambled up to their feet instantly, sizing each other up for a few seconds. Vegeta brushed at his nose, leaving more blood stains on his gloves, before flashing Jhainer an amused smirk. The Trikan nudged his injured side a bit, tasting a hint of blood in his mouth, before returning the smirk. Jhainer's race wasn't bred for combat like the Saiyans, but he had been trained for battle since he could walk. He loved a good fight just as much as the Saiyan standing across from him, and it showed in his exceptional skillset.

Vegeta spit out a mouthful of blood, before going to say something when there was a crunching sound behind them. They instantly whirled around, tensed now for life and death battle instead of a sporting brawl, but there was no one there. For the first time, Vegeta finally took in his surroundings on the planet. They were encircled by dark, enormous structures that stretched far into the sky, disappearing into red and yellow clouds. The structures looked like they were made of rock, but they were curved and looping amongst themselves like snakes, as though writing in a language he didn't understand.

Jhainer let his scouter run a few seconds, his battle stance unchanged. He frowned as he lowered his hand. "I got some readings but they're all under 2,000," he softly said. "Everyone is heading towards the tournament. We should go too-"

"Shut up, Trikan," Vegeta hissed, straining his hearing as he watched the blinking lights on his scouter. In the distance, he heard faint footsteps. "I think someone is trailing us and I'm going to find out just who it is."

Without a sound, the prince advanced, staying in the dark shadows cast by the structures to remain undetected. Jhainer moved with him, staying close behind, both of them moving in complete silence. Finally, the teenagers came up to a wall of rock with some shrubs. Vegeta, having levitated the whole way, leaned up with his back against the wall, and then they both peeked around the corner.

There were four aliens gathered together, surrounding a fire with white and blue flames. Strung up over the fire was some animal that looked like it'd only been skinned moments ago. The aliens were small, silver, and sleek, as though designed by metal. They only had two all-black eyes on their heads with two holes on either side where their ears should've been. No hair, no noses, no mouths. They were all small, none of them surpassing Vegeta and Jhainer in height.

The two smallest aliens looked to be engaged in a spar of some kind while the other two aliens sat and watched silently. All were dressed in loose, black rags, making them appear poor. But the fighting was anything but. Vegeta watched with wide eyes, captivated by a fighting style he'd never seen before. The aliens moved with such natural fluidity and speed, phasing in and out of sight, countering moves again and again. They must have been trained, and trained well. They had instincts though that couldn't be taught.

"Well there goes your theory about enemies on our trail," Jhainer whispered lowly so only Vegeta could hear him.

"Hn. They must be preparing for the tournament," Vegeta whispered back.

"They're both impressive. Powerful for children," Jhainer relented, earning a grunt of agreement from the prince with him. "No surprise Lord Frieza sent us here to recruit."

"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves," Vegeta whispered, a smirk spreading over his face.

"Zarbon said we're not supposed to draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. If they find out what we're truly here for, it could jeopardize the entire mission."

"When the hell did Zarbon say that?"

"He told us on our scouters before we left base."

"Ah, well, my scouter was broken at the time, so I didn't get that message."

"Vegeta-"

"Calm yourself, Trikan. The tournament hasn't even started yet, right? There is nothing to do anyways. Might as well see what these brats are made of when the lights aren't focused on them," Vegeta snickered. Jhainer just shook his head in disapproval, but did nothing to stop the Saiyan as he levitated over, entering the view of the other aliens. Jhainer hesitated a moment, glancing over in the direction of the tournament which was going to get underway soon, and then followed after the prince.

The spar between the two smallest aliens came to an abrupt halt at the sight of the two young soldiers coming into view. Vegeta chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest, amused at how all four of the aliens stood and gathered together, with the two small fighters in front, their small, silver hands balled into fists. He couldn't read those black eyes, but he knew just from the body language that they were afraid. As well they should have been.

"We didn't mean to interrupt," Vegeta informed them, maintaining his levitation to hide his limp. He gestured towards where the spar had been taking place. "Please, do continue. We're eager to see more of your fighting skills."

The four aliens stared blankly back at him, unmoving. "Seems like you wrecked the festivities, Vegeta," Jhainer softly said, exposing his sharp teeth when the Saiyan got close to the animal over the flames.

"I do that a lot, it seems," Vegeta chuckled, reaching in with his gloved hand and ripping right into the dead animal with his fingers. He tore out a chunk of half-raw meat and sniffed it carefully, before chucking the piece into his mouth. His stomach growled with hunger – he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten, and he eagerly ripped out a larger piece of the animal's flesh. He turned back to the teenager with him. "Hungry?"

Jhainer stepped forward, his own starvation getting the better of him. He ripped out a piece of meat for himself while Vegeta chewed, staring at the aliens across the flames from him. He smiled and dusted off his hands, gesturing again for the spar to continue. He couldn't tell the genders of the aliens, but he didn't care. The two runts could fight, and he wanted to see them in action.

"Go on, I want to see more," Vegeta ordered again, waving his hand back to where the two small aliens had been fighting. When he was again met with silence, the prince's eyes darkened considerably, and his tail slowly unwrapped from around his waist with his growing ire. "That's twice now that I've told you brats to get back to fighting. I believe that's one time too many."

"Vegeta, they probably don't understand you," Jhainer said in between bites of his meal.

"Is that so? Well, fortunately, there are other ways to get the message across."

Vegeta suddenly phased in and grabbed one of the larger and weaker aliens, gripping them roughly by their rags. In a flash, he had the alien's face inches away from the white-hot flames on the ground, easily holding the weaker being in place.

_No! _a boy's voice echoed in Vegeta's head in panic. The prince glanced over at one of the small fighters who had stepped up, and grinned.

_Telepathic, are we now? _Vegeta sent back mockingly.

_Y-yes, _the boy sent back, bowing his head in respect. There was no way for him to express fear on his face, but there was terror in his heavily accented voice. _My name is Raum. I was fighting with my brother Adriel. We are with our sisters in preparation for the tournament. Please, don't harm us._

The Saiyan stayed in silence for a moment, frowning in thought. He looked forward at the female alien in his grasp who was struggling helplessly to get away from the flames that were threatening to burn her any second now. The Saiyan snorted and pulled her back, throwing her roughly to the ground. He then turned his sights towards the smallest alien there, the boy who had communicated with him telepathically. Raum's attention was distracted as he and his siblings rushed towards the fallen alien woman.

Vegeta instantly intercepted Raum, wrapping one hand around his throat and brutally slamming him back into a structure of rock. He heard an alarmed telepathic cry in his head, and his battle sense picked up the other small fighter, Adriel, running desperately towards him to defend his brother. Jhainer phased in immediately and fired a vicious ki blast into Adriel's face before the boy could attack Vegeta, sending him crashing back to the sand. He rolled over, clutching his face in pain.

The prince chuckled, looking back at the boy in his grasp who was struggling to free the grip around his throat.

"Can you hear what I'm saying, boy?" Vegeta demanded, tightening his grip. Raum nodded. "Excellent. Now, I spared your-_sister_, wasn't it? I believe I'm due something in return for being so merciful today. What do you think?"

_We have nothing to give, _Raum sent telepathically with a whimper.

"Oh, I think you have plenty to give. Here is what I want you and your brother to do. I want you both to advance into the semi-finals, and then purposely lose your fights there. Look as bad and as pathetic as possible when you do."

_But we need the riches! Our father is ill, and-_

"Calm down, boy. If you do this for me, I promise I will take care of your father for you and the rest of your family. You and your brother will both be...handsomely rewarded."

_No, _Raum sent back, his voice unwavering. Vegeta just smiled at him.

"Jhainer," he ordered, his smile slowly turning sadistic. "Kill all three of them."

_NO! _Raum desperately pleaded.

Jhainer chuckled, his blue tail waving as he went back over to the cooking animal. "I don't take orders from you, Vegeta. Handle your own problems."

"So be it," Vegeta growled, raising his free palm out towards the remaining three aliens.

_Alright, I agree! I accept! Just please, don't hurt them! _Raum cried mentally. Vegeta looked back at him, fascinated to see that his black eyes were now shining. The prince blinked, and then frowned when he realized they were tears. He promptly released his grip on the boy's throat, sending him falling back to the ground. Raum scrambled over to his brother, helping pull the boy up as they staggered over towards their older sisters and huddled together in fear.

"I'll be watching the tournament from beginning to end," Vegeta warned, making eye contact with all of them. "Any of you try anything, and I mean _anything_, I will kill all four of you, then find your planet and kill everyone there. Understand?" They all nodded, and he gestured for them to leave. "Go, get prepared for your fights. I will be watching soon."

Jhainer was silent as he watched the aliens leave. He was squatting down and eating meat from the animal that was half-bones by this point. He ripped off a piece and held it over the fire to cook it more when Vegeta came up next to him to eat as well. The two teenagers ate in a comfortable silence, both of them staring into the white flames.

"You should have just let both boys fight to their maximum capacity," Jhainer softly commented after a few minutes. He reclined back and sat down on the sand. "Get them some fighting experience, and truly see what they can do."

"And let Manzin see their potential?" Vegeta snorted. "I don't think so."

"What the hell does it matter to you? Even if he got one of them, you could get the other. You have second choice."

"I don't want Manzin to get one of them, idiot. If neither of them make it into the finals, then he definitely won't pick them. If they can't make it into the semi-finals at all, then I won't pick them either," Vegeta snidely explained, slowly sitting down as well. He gingerly stretched out his feet, trying not to wince when he did. Unspoken by the prince was the fact that if he somehow failed, he preferred Jhainer to win over Cui and Manzin. It was unspoken but well understood, not to mention mutual. They lapsed into another comfortable silence for some time, until Jhainer's soft voice finally broke it.

"This is the first time I've recruited." The prince next to him looked over at him curiously, but Jhainer was staring into the flames, his good eye narrowed. "Those children have no idea what we're going to do to them and their homes."

"We have our orders. No point in dwelling on it."

"You ever dwell on what happened to _your_ planet?"

"My planet is none of your business," Vegeta snapped.

"I think about my planet often," Jhainer quietly admitted, sounding far older than his years. "You're fortunate, Vegeta. You have two of your people here with you."

Vegeta looked away. "Nappa and Raditz are idiots."

"Perhaps, but they're Saiyan. I haven't tasted the air of Trika in…" Jhainer's voice trailed off, and he shook his head.

"You will see your native land again when you earn rank."

Jhainer shot Vegeta an amused look as his thorny tail rose up behind him. "Are you finally conceding that I will emerge the victorious man in the rank qualifying squad?"

"You will, but not from _this _squad. You can try again after I win though."

Jhainer shook his head. "Arrogant words from the individual with zero points thus far."

"Unnecessary concerns from the weakest member in the squad." Vegeta chuckled at the glare that he got from the older teenager before his scouter beeped. He reached up, and accepted a live communications link with Nappa. "What is it?"

"We've arrived at the tournament. Manzin and Cui are already here, and are seated at the front. This place is huge, Vegeta. There are lots of fighters."

"When will it begin?" the prince demanded.

"Five minutes."

"I'll be there."

Vegeta cut the transmission, looking over at Jhainer. "Looks like our break is over. Time to get back to work."

"Yes. Back to Lord Frieza's work," Jhainer muttered, barely able to hide the remarkable bitterness in his voice.

Vegeta frowned, not saying anything to that as he slowly got up to his feet. The two teenagers were soaring through the air only moments later. Yes, it was back to Frieza's endless work. One day though, it would end - and it would end by _his _hand.

Unfortunately for all of them, that day was not today.


End file.
